AN  ADDRESS 


iieUSjereti  licfore  the  ©fttfens  of  JJhtlaheliihta, 


AT  THE 


HOUSE  OF  REFUGE, 


On  Saturday,  the  twenty-ninth  of  November,  1808. 


BY  JOHN  SERGEANT, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  INSTITUTION. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OP  THE  BOARD  OF  MANAGERS. 


PIlILADELPHLl: 

JESPER  HARDING,  PRINTER, 


1828 


5 


Ai\  ADDRESS 


iSeUljercti  before  the  ffitttjens  of  33hHattel|)hfn, 


AT  THE 


HOUSE  OF  REFUGE, 


On  Saturday y  the  twenty-ninth  of  November ,  1828. 


BY  JOHN  SERGEANT, 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  I  N  S  P  I  T  U  T  I  O  N . 


0 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  MANAGERS. 


(^.-^.VCAGo 

■V  - 

HiST3.iiCAL  SoeXTY, 

“Jr.c 


PHlLADELPHll: 

JF.SPEn  HARDING,  PIIIN 


TER.  •  •*  i  i  i  i  :_>■  i  ^  (I 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  House 
of  Refuge^  held  on  the  29th  day  of  November, 
1828,  the  following  resolutions  were,  on  motion 
of  Thomas  Astley,  Esquire,  adopted  unanimously. 

Resolvedy  That  the  thanks  of  the  Board  of  Mana¬ 
gers  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  be  presented  to  John 
Sergeant,  Esquire,  the  President  of  the  Institution, 
for  his  able,  impressive,  and  eloquent  address,  deli¬ 
vered  this  afternoon  before  the  Board  and  a  large 
assemblage  of  their  fellow  citizens. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  be  requestet^  to  com¬ 
municate  the  foregoing  resolution  to  Mr.  Sergeant, 
and  to  request  a  copy  of  the  Address  for  publication. 

JAMES  J.  BARCLAY, 


Secretary  of  the  House  of  Refuge. 


ADDRESS. 


Fellow  Citizens, 

It  is  my  duty,  in  obedience  to  a  resolution  of 
the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  to 
announce  that  the  House  will  be  opened  on  Monday 
the  first  day  of  December  next,  for  the  reception  of 
as  many  inmates  as  their  means  will  at  present  enable 
them  to  provide  for. 

In  arriving  at  this  stage  of  their  labours,  which 
they  have  reached  by  the  aid  of  your  munificence, 
and  the  liberal  patronage  of  the  Legislature  of  Penn¬ 
sylvania,  the  Managers  have  reason  to  congratulate 
you  that  your  efforts  have  so  far  proved  successful. 
A  new  institution  of  humanity  has  been  established, 
and  this  day  taken  its  place  among  the  numerous 
monuments  of  enlightened  wisdom,  and  provident 
charity,  which  have  attested  the  earnest  and  con- 
tinned  efforts  of  our  State  and  her  citizens,  to  im¬ 
prove  the  condition  of  society,  to  alleviate  the  suffer¬ 
ings  of  misfortune,  and  to  mitigate,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  evils  of  error  and  crime.  In  this  career  there  is 
no  danger  that' we  shall  advance  too  far.  The  boun¬ 
daries  of  empire  have  often  been  enlarged  by  unjust 
force,  and  the  conquest  has  only  administered  to  an 
ungovernable  ambition,  regardless  of  every  thing  but 
the  vain  trophies  which  displayed  its  indulgence. 


4 


Blit  the  limits  of  morality^  of  religion,  and  of  humani¬ 
ty,  may  be  indefinitely  extended,  and  with  every 
extension  we  may  be  assured  that  we  are  enlarging 
the  circle  of  human  happiness,  and  contributing,  un¬ 
der  Providence,  to  the  present  and  future  welfare  of 
man. 

The  good  work,  which  has  been  thus  far  happily 
advanced,  is  still  in  its  infancy,  and,  as  you  will  soon 
perceive,  stands  in  need  of  further  support,  to  give 
it  the  growth  and  strength  which  are  necessary  to 
the  development  of  its  beneficent  faculties,  and  which 
ought  to  characterize  the  offspring  of  a  powerful  and 
liberal  community  like  that  in  which  it  is  our  lot  to 
be  placed. 

The  Managers  deem  it  their  duty  to  enforce  this 
claim  by  exhibiting  to  you  some  account  of  the  pro¬ 
gress  and  present  state  of  the  institution,  as  well  as  of 
its  future  prospects. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  at  a  large  and  respect¬ 
able  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  held  on 
the  7th  day  of  February,  1826,  it  was  resolved,  with 
great  unanimity,  to  organize  a  society  for  the  refor¬ 
mation  of  juvenile  delinquents.  The  terms  of  asso¬ 
ciation  were  agreed  upon,  and  committees  appointed 
to  solicit  subscriptions  in  aid  of  the  undertaking. 
Immediately  after,  application  was  made  to  the  legis¬ 
lature  for  the  requisite  powers ;  and,  on  the  23d  of 
March,  1826,  an  act  was  passed  to  incorporate  the 
subscribers,  with  a  rapidity  which  evinced  the  entire 
sanction  by  the  legislative  wisdom  of  Pennsylvania, 
of  the  plan  of  benevolence  which  had  thus  been  de¬ 
vised. 

On  the  first  day  of  May,  in  the  same  year,  officers 


and  managers  were  elected  by  the  subscribers^  and 
charged  with  the  execution  of  what  had  been  thus 
resolved  and  sanctioned.  They  have  since  been  con¬ 
tinued^  (with  some  few  changes)  by  successive  elec¬ 
tions^  and '  have  earnestly  endeavoured  to  fulfil  the 
task  assigned  to  them. 

In  many  of  the  wards^  the  Committees  appointed 
by  the  meeting  did  not  perform  their  duty  with  the 
zeal  and  industry  expected  from  them.  With  the 
aid  of  the  committees^  nevertheless^  and  with  the 
voluntary  exertions  of  individual  members  of  the 
Board,  who  kindly  gave  their  services,  there  was 
collected  from  this  source,  in  the  city  and  districts, 
the  sum  of  88,104.41. 

In  the  same  year  (1826),  application  was  made 
to  the  Legislature  for  assistance,  and  on  the  2d  of 
March,  1827,  an  act  was  passed,  evincing  the  same 
liberal  spirit  which  has  always  characterized  our  re¬ 
presentatives  when  worthy  objects  have  been  pre¬ 
sented  for  their  support.  By  this  act,  there  was  an 
immediate  appropriation  of  five  thousand  dollars,  an 
appropriation  of  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  addi¬ 
tional  before  the  1st  January,  1828,  and  twenty-five 
‘  hundred  dollars  before  the  1st  January,  1829,  making 
a  total  from  the  State  treasury  of  ten  thousand  dol¬ 
lars.  By  the  same  act,  ten  thousand  dollars  were 
directed  to  be  paid  by  the  county  commissioners  of 
the  county  of  Philadelphia,  out  of  the  county  funds, 
in  annual  instalments,  of  not  less  than  five  thousand 
dollars  each,  for  the  purpose  of  defraying  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  a  site,  and  building  a  House  of  Refuge 
thereon  and  after  such  payment,  they  were  direct¬ 
ed  to  pay  “  annually  thereafter,  for  the  term  of  five 


6 


years,  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars,  for  keeping 
the  said  House  of  Refuge  in  good  order  and  repair, 
and  for  defraying  any  incidental  and  unavoidable  ex¬ 
penses  which  may  from  time  to  time  be  incurred  in 
conducting  the  said  Institution/’ 

While  these  measures  were  in  progress,  the  mana¬ 
gers  were  anxiously  engaged  in  exertions  to  bring 
the  institution  into  active  existence  at  as  early  a  day 
as  possible.  The  want  of  such  an  establishment  be¬ 
came  more  obvious  as  their  inquiries  were  extended. 
They  hoped  that  some  building  might  be  found  al¬ 
ready  erected,  and  calculated  to  afford  the  required 
accommodation,  at  least  for  a  time.  But  their  ex¬ 
pectations  were  disappointed ;  and  they  were  soon 
brought  to  the  conclusion,  (with  which  they  have  now 
no  reason  to  be  dissatisfied,)  that  the  object  of  their 
constituents  and  the  public  could  only  be  attained  by 
purchasing  a  lot,  and  placing  upon  it  a  structure  in 
all  respects  adapted  to  the  contemplated  purpose. 

Accordingly,  about  the  7th  of  April,  1827,  they 
purchased  a  lot  of  five  acres  and  fifteen  perches,  at 
the  corner  of  Francis’s  lane  and  the  Wissahiccon 
road,  in  Penn  township,  in  the  county  of  Philadel¬ 
phia,  for  the  sum  of  five  thousand  five  hundred  dol¬ 
lars.  Having  arranged  their  plan,  and  appointed  a 
building  committee,  (who  have  devoted  themselves 
with  unceasing  attention  to  the' work,)  the  corner¬ 
stone  was*  laid  on  the  21st  of  June,  1827,  and  the 
building  urged  to  a  completion  with  as  much  despatch 
as  the  nature  of  the  case  would  allow.  The  general 
plan  and  arrangement  will  be  understood  from  the 
following  description. 

A  plot  of  ground  400  feet  in  length  from  east  to 


7 


west,  and  231  feet  in  breadth  from  north  to  soiitli, 
bounded  by  streets  on  all  sides,  is  enclosed  by  a  stone 
wall  two  feet  thick  and  twenty  feet  high.  The  main 
building  fronts  to  the  north,  on  Howard  street,  and 
is  92  feet  in  length  by  30  in  depth.  This  building 
is  intended  for  the  accommodation  of  the  keeper’s 
family,  and  contains  rooms  for  the  use  of  the  mana¬ 
gers,  and  for  infirmaries  for  the  delinquents.  Wings 
on  each  side  extend  the  whole  length  of  the  front, 
and  contain  three  ranges  or  stories  of  cells,  four  feet 
by  seven  feet  each,  for  separate  lodging  rooms. 
These  cells,  of  which  there  are  174,  are  well  lighted 
and  ventilated.  The  main  building  is  covered  with 
tin,  and  the  dormitories  are  slated.  It  is  designed, 
(in  case  it  should  be  necessary,  and  the  means  can  be 
obtained,)  to  complete  the  plan  by  extending  these 
dormitories  round  the  wall  of  the  yard,  so  as  to  form 
a  hollow  square.  The  expense  will  be  comparatively 
small,  as  they  will  be  within  the  present  wall,  a  part 
of  the  cost  of  which  may  be  considered  as  having  been 
incurred  with  a  view  to  such  extension.  There  is, 
also,  within  the  enclosure,  a  place  of  worship,  and 
there  are  the  necessary  buildings  for  kitchens,  dining¬ 
rooms,  and  work-shops. 

These  buildings,  it  will  be  seen,  embrace  the  re¬ 
quisite  provision  for  security,  employment,  instruc¬ 
tion,  and  separation  from  contaminating  association. 
The  utmost  economy  has  been  consulted  throughout ; 
and  the  managers,  never  forgetting  that  it  was  their 
first  duty  to  advance  the  object  committed  to  their 
care,  have  been  careful  at  the  same  time  neither  to 
incur  nor  permit  any  expense  which  could  be  spared 
without  detriment  to  the  principal  design.  The 
buildings  are  substantial  and  plain ;  the  furniture  is 


V 


A 


simple  and  cheap ;  and  the  arrangements  for  the  con¬ 
duct  of  the  House  are  upon  a  scale  as  reduced  as  was 
practicable. 

With  all  their  eflbrts^  however,  they  have  been 
unable  to  provide  for  the  expenses  which  were  abso¬ 
lutely  unavoidable,  without  incurring  debt;  and  it 
is  not  now  in  their  power,  without  further  aid, 
to  put  the  institution  into  operation  upon  a  scale 
commensurate  with  the  public  wants.  That  this 
would  probably  be  the  case,  they  early  apprehended ; 
and  they  endeavoured  in  time  to  obtain  the  required 
assistance.  In  January  last,  they  presented  a  memo¬ 
rial  to  the  Legislature,  setting  forth  at  length  their 
proceedings  up  to  that  period,  and  the  condition  and 
prospects  of  the  work.  •  In  February,  they  called  a 
meeting  of  the  contributors,  published  an  address  to 
their  fellow  citizens,  repeated  their  request  for  aid, 
and  adopted  measures  for  obtaining  new  subscrip¬ 
tions.  This  call  produced  little  more  than  four 
thousand  dollars,  which,  added  to  the  amount  before 
received,  gives  a  total  for  individual  subscriptions 
of  ^12,585.27. 

Their  receipts  from  all  sources  have  amounted  to 
842,364.76  :  to  wit : 

Private  contributions,  as  before  stated,  812,585.27 
State  Treasury,  to  wit: 

Appropriation  for  1827,  5000 

1828,  2500 

-  7,500 

•  ^ 


County  Treasury,  to  wit : 
Appropriation  for  1827,  5000 

1828,  5000 


10,000 


State  appropriation  for  1829,  antici- 


9 


pated  by  a  note  of  the  Committee  of 
Finance, 

Loans  from  13  individuals,  to  be  re¬ 
turned  in  1829,  each  S500, 

Loan  from  Pennsylvania  Society  for 
the  Promotion  of  Public  Economy,  se¬ 
cured  by  a  mortgage  on  the  real  estate 
of  the  House  of  Refuge,  without  the 
walls, 

Sales  of  materials,  and  interest  of 
money  loaned  in  1826-7, 

.  42,364.76 

Their  expenditures  have  amounted  to  $42,289.73, 
to  wit : 

Lot  of  ground,  5,500 

Buildings  and  wall,  as  far  as  completed,  35,800 

Miscellaneous,  including  interest  of  mo¬ 
ney  borrowed,  insurance  of  buildings,  &c.  989.23 

842,289.23 

Leaving  a  balance  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  at 
the  present  time  of  only  875.53. 

To  complete  the  buildings,  and  prepare  accommo¬ 
dations  for  25  boys  and  10  girls,  will  require  at  least 

81,600 

Salaries  of  officers,  and  maintenance  of 
subjects  for  the  present  year,  will  not  be 
less  than  600 

Add  the  present  debt  of  the  society,  to  wit : 

Loans  from  individuals,  6,500 

Loan  from  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Public  Economy,  '  3,000 

Will  give  for  the  probable  amount  of  debt - 

on  the  1st  January,  1829,  811,700 

2 


2.500 

6.500 

3,000 

279.49 


10 


If  provision  could  be  made  for  the  payment  of  this 
debt,  the  prospect  might  be  deemed  encouraging. 
The  County  Commissioners  are  authorized  to  pay  five 
thousand  dollars  annually  out  of  the  county  funds, 
for  five  years,  commencing  with  the  year  1829.  To 
this  may  be  added  annual  subscriptions,  expected  to 
amount  to  from  six  to  eight  hundred  dollars,  which, 
together,  would  be  sufficient  to  maintain  one  hundred 
subjects.  The  House  is  calculated  to  accommodate 
174,  that  is  to  say,  87  boys  and  87  girls.  But  the 
managers  feel  confident,  that  if  relieved  from  debt, 
and  put  into  operation  with  the  limited  number  men¬ 
tioned,  its  practical  benefits  would  in  a  short  time 
secure  to  it  the  patronage  necessary  for  its  extension 
and  support. 

In  making  this  exposition  of  the  result  of  their 
labours  up  to  the  present  time,  it  is  the  purpose  of 
the  managers,  while  they  give  an  account  of  their 
stewardship,  to  show  to  their  fellow  citizens  the 
necessity  for  further  aid,  and  to  appeal  to  them  to 
afford  it.  The  work  is  their  own.  With  them  it 
originated.  To  them  will  belong  the  satisfaction  to 
be  derived  from  its  success,  and  to  them  also  will 
belong  a  considerable  portion  of  whatever  credit  may 
be  due  to  those  who  have  conferred  its  benefits  upon 
the  community.  Will  they  suffer  it  to  languish  for 
want  of  the  aid  that  is  now  required? 

Of  those  who  have  given  any  consideration  to  this 
subject,  there  are  very  few,  perhaps  there  are  none, 
who  have  not  unhesitatingly  yielded  their  entire 
approbation  to  the  plan  of  a  House  of  Refuge.  The 
simple  suggestion,  indeed,  seemed  to  carry  instant 
conviction  to  every  mind  capable  of  understanding. 


4 


*• 


II 

and  to  every  heart  susceptible  of  feeling  the  nature 
of  the  duties  we  owe  to  ourselves  and  to  each  other. 
There  was^  and  there  continues  to  be^  an  almost  en¬ 
tire  unanimity  of  opinion  in  favour  of  the  work.  But 
there  are  many  who  think  that  it  ought  to  be  alto¬ 
gether  a  public  charge,  and  on  that  account  have 
declined  to  give  it  the  support  of  their  names  or 
contributions.  They  say,  let  it  be  supported  by  the 
treasury  of  the  State  or  of  the  County,  and  not  be 
thrown  upon  the  charity  of  individuals. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  he  who  is  asked  to  give, 
is  at  liberty  to  withhold :  he  is  the  exclusive  master 
of  the  judgment  which,  in  this  respect,  is  to  deter¬ 
mine  his  conduct.  But  it  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
just  liberty  of  our  fellow  citizens  to  place  before  them 
the  motives  which  influence  us  to  ask,  and  which, 
properly  considered,  may  perhaps  induce  them  to 
give.  It  is  with  this  view,  and  with  the  hope  that 
our  efforts  may  yet  open  new  streams  of  bounty,  as 
well  as  enlarge  those  which  have  so  far  supplied  and 
nourished  the  establishment,  that  we  now  invite  your 
attention  to  some  of  the  considerations  which  seem 
to  us  to  justify  the  appeal. 

We  would  remind  you,  in  the  first  place,  that  the 
great  end  and  aim  of  the  House  of  Refuge  is,  in  the 
strictest  sense  of  the  terms,  a  work  of  charity  and 
mercy.  Whatever  else  may  be  contemplated — and 
certainly  extensive  public  advantages  are  to  be  ex¬ 
pected  which  well  deserve  the  public  consideration 
— is  only  incidental.  The  Refuge  is  not  a  place  of 
punishment;  it  is  not  a  provision  simply,  nor  even 
principally,  for  the  security  of  society  against  offence, 
by  the  confinement  of  culprits,  nor  for  inflicting  the 


12 


vengeance  of  society  upon  offenders  as  a  terror  to 
those  who  may  be  inclined  to  do  evil.  It  presents 
no  vindictive  or  reproachful  aspect;  it  threatens  no 
humiliating  recollections  of  the  past ;  it  holds  out  no 
degrading  denunciations  for  the  future — but^  in  the 
accents  of  kindness  and  compassion^  invites  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  poverty  and  ignorance,  whose  wandering  and 
unguided  steps  are  leading  them  to  swift  destruction, 
to  come  to  a  home  where  they  will  be  sheltered  from 
temptation,  and  led  into  the  ways  of  usefulness  and 
virtue. 

That  such  is  the  object  of  the  establishment,  will 
be  manifest  from  reading  the  sixth  section  of  the  Act 
of  Incorporation,  which  provides  ^‘  That  the  said 
managers  shall  at  their  discretion  receive  into  the 
said  House  of  Refuge,  such  children  who  shall  be 
taken  up  or  committed  as  vagrants,  or  upon  any 
criminal  charge,  or  duly  convicted  of  criminal  of¬ 
fences,  as  may  in  the  judgment  of  the  Court  of  Oyer 
and  Terminer,  or  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions 
of  the  peace  of  the  county,  or  of  Ihe  Mayor’s  Court 
of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  or  of  any  alderman  or 
justice  of  the  peace,  or  of  the  managers  of  the  alms¬ 
house  and  house  of  employment,  be  deemed  proper 
objects;  and  the  said  managers  of  the  House  of  Re¬ 
fuge  shall  have  power  to  place  the  said  children  com¬ 
mitted  to  their  care,  during  the  minority  of  the  said 
children,  at  such  employments,  and  cause  them  to  be 
instructed  in  such  branches  of  useful  knowledge  as 
may  be  suitable  to  their  years  and  capacities ;  and 
they  shall  have  power  in  their  discretion  to  bind  out 
the  said  children,  with  their  consent,  as  apprentices, 
during  their  minority,  to  such  persons,  and  at  such 


13 


places^  to  learn  such  proper  trades  and  employments 
as  in  their  judgment  will  be  most  conducive  to  the 
reformation  and  amendment^  and  will  tend  to  the 
future  benefit  and  advantage  of  such  children.^^ 

The  value  of  such  a  foundation  is  demonstrable 
by  abundant  proofs.  Our  laws^  eonforming  as  far  as 
practicable  to  the  dictates  of  nature^  regard  the 
period  of  infancy  as  weak  and  prone  to  error^  and 
the  infant  as  incapable  of  governing  himself.  He 
may  be  said^  in  general^  to  be  exempt  from  all  civil 
responsibility.  He  can  make  but  few  binding  con¬ 
tracts^  except  for  mere  necessaries.  Whatever  acts 
he  is  permitted  to  do^  are  guarded  by  peculiar  cau¬ 
tions^  all  having  in  view  to  protect  him  from  the  fee¬ 
bleness  of  his  own  judgment^  and  to  place  him  at 
maturity  upon  the  stage  of  life^  as  if  he  were  then 
born  to  society^  and  began  first  to  exist  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  civil  obligation. 

Our  criminal  laws  are  upon  an  entirely  difierent 
footing.  Whether  it  be  that  the  faculty  of  judging 
between  right  and  wrong  is  more  early  and  more  dis¬ 
tinctly  developed;  than  the  capacity  to  exercise  a 
sound  judgment  upon  the  complicated  concerns  of 
property;  or  that  the  security  of  society  does  not 
allow  of  the  same  indulgence  when  crime  is  commit¬ 
ted  as  in  cases  of  contract;  or  whether  it  be  from  the 
combined  operation  of  both  these  causes;  the  fact  is 
certain;  that  there  is  scarcely  an  age  so  tender  as  to 
be  exempt  from  criminal  responsibility.  Under 
seven  years  of  agC;  indeed;^^  says  Blackstonc;  an 
infant  cannot  be  guilty  of  felony ;  for  then  a  felonious 
discretion  is  almost  an  impossibility  in  nature:  but  at 
eight  years  old  he  may  be  guilty  of  felony.  AlsO; 


14 


under  fourteen,  though  an  infant  shall  he  prima  facie 
adjudged  to  be  doli  incapax;  yet,  if  it  appear  to  the 
court  and  jury  that  he  was  doli  capax,  and  could 
discern  between  good  and  evil,  he  may  be  convicted 
and  suffer  death. 4  B.  Com.  22.  The  learned 
author  then  goes  on  to  state  the  case  of  a  girl  of  thir¬ 
teen  who  had  been  burned  for  killing  her  mistress, 
and  of  two  boys  of  ten,  and  one  of  eight  years  old, 
who  had  suffered  the  punishment  of  death  by  hanging. 

That  the  law  could  in  this  respect  be  safely  altered, 
is  more  than  I  would  undertake  to  affirm.  Immunity 
from  criminal  accountability  up  to  a  fixed  period  of 
life,  and  a  consequent  freedom  from  restraint  and 
punishment  until  that  period  arrive,  would  be  re¬ 
pugnant  to  every  dictate  ’of  social  prudence  and  jus¬ 
tice.  On  the  other  hand,  to  seize  upon  the  first 
dawn  of  the  faculty  of  discerning  between  right  and 

wrong,  when  childhood  is  manifest  in  the  language, 

* 

the  deportment,  and  in  the  very  person  of  the  cul¬ 
prit,  and  throw  the  offending  child  into  a  mass  of 
ripe  and  hardened  offenders,  subjected  to  the  same 
punishment,  and  condemned  to  the  same  association, 
has  in  it  something  so  revolting  to  humanity,  that  the 
spectacle  never  fails  to  enlist  the  feelings  against  the 
law,  and  judges  and  juries  are  often  tempted  to  strain 
their  consciences  in  order,  to  produce  an  acquittal. 
Either  alternative  is  dangerous  to  the  future  wel¬ 
fare  of  the  unfortunate  accused.  If  by  the  irre¬ 
sistible  impulse  of  humanity,  he  is  restored  to 
liberty,  he  returns  to  his  former  haunts  and  habits, 
emboldened  by  impunity,  and  hardened,  perhaps 
ruined,  by  the  base  association  to  which  he  has  been 
exposed,  even  before  his  trial,  by  confinement  with 


15 


untried  prisoners.  If  he  be  condemned,  his  fate  is 
almost  inevitably  sealed.  Nothing  less  than  a  miracle 
can  save  him  from  destruction. 

Of  all  the  men  we  meet  with/’  says  Mr.  Locke, 
nine  parts  in  ten  are  what  they  are,  good  or  evil, 
useful  or  not,  by  their  education.”  What  must  be 
the  education  of  those  whom  we  put  to  school  in  a 
common  jail?  Evidence  is  not  wanting  to  establish 
as  a  melancholy  fact,  what  we  might  readily  infer 
from  observation  as  likely  to  be  the  case.  T.  F. 
Buxton,  in  his  Inquiry,”  states  the  result  of  his 
personal  examination  in  a  number  of  prisons,  from 
which  it  may  not  be  unprofitable  to  make  some  ex¬ 
tracts.  Speaking  of  the  Borough  Compter,  he  says. 
The  jailer  told  me  that  in  an  experience  of  nine 
years  he  had  never  known  an  instance  of  reformation ; 
he  thought  the  prisoners  grew  worse,  and  he  was 
sure,  that  if  you  took  the  first  boy  you  met  with  in 
the  streets,  and  placed  him  in  his  prison,  by  the  end 
of  a  month  he  would  be  as  bad  as  the  rest,  and  up  to 
all  the  roguery  of  London.”  At  the  jail  of  St.  Al¬ 
bans,  he  asked  of  the  jailer  Have  you  ever  known 
persons  come  here  comparatively  innocent,  who  have 
gone  out  quite  depraved?”  I  have  not,”  is  the  an¬ 
swer,  known  persons  come  here  innocent,  because 
they  are  sent  here  for  some  offence ;  but  I  have  known 
several  sent  here  for  first  offences,  whose  minds  were 
not  wicked,  though  they  had  been  guilty  of  the  one 
offence.  I  have  known  a  great  many,  (I  can’t  men¬ 
tion  the  number,)  who,  coming  in  thus,  have  gone 
out  quite  depraved ;  but  I  have  never  known  one, 
who  coming  in  wicked,  went  out  better.”  Many 
and  very  grievous,”  says  Mr.  Buxton,  ^^are  the  in- 


16 


stances  which  have  come  to  my  knowledge  of  persons 
corrupted  by  prison.  When  I  first  went  to  Newgate^ 
my  attention  was  directed  by  my  companion  to  a  boy 
whose  apparent  innocence  and  artlessness  had  attract¬ 
ed  his  attention.  The  schoolmaster  said  he  was  an 
example  to  all  the  rest,  so  quiet,  so  reserved,  and  so 
unwilling  to  have  any  intercourse  with  his  dissolute 
companions.  ^  At  his  trial  he  was  acquitted  upon 
evidence  which  did  not  leave  a  shadow  of  suspicion 
upon  him:  but  lately  I  recognised  him  again  in  New¬ 
gate,  but  with  a  very  different  character.  He  con¬ 
fessed  to  me  that  on  his  release  he  had  associated  with 
the  acquaintances  he  had  formed  in  prison:  of  his 
ruin  I  can  feel  but  little  doubt ;  and  as  little  of  the 
cause  of  it.  He  came  to  Newgate  innocent;  he  left 
it  corrupted.’^ 

One  more  instance  is  related  by  Mr.  Buxton  at 
some  length.  It  is  of  a  peculiarly  affecting  nature, 
and  deserves  to  be  repeated  for  the  solemn  lesson  it 
conveys : — G.  M.,  the  son  of  a  journeyman  butcher 
in  reduced  circumstances,  was  educated  at  the  en¬ 
dowed  grammar  school  at  Barnet,  under  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Man,  who  writes  me  word,  ^  G.  M.  was  for  some 
time  under  my  care,  and  as  far  as  I  recollect,  con¬ 
ducted  himself  properly  during  that  period.  He 
came  to  London  with  his  father,  and  I  am  assured  by 
a  very  respectable  tradesman,  who  knew  him  well, 
that  he  would  not  have  objected  to  take  him  into  his 
service.  He  is  now'  fourteen  years  old,  and  a  boy 
of  an  intelligent  countenance.  He  was  apprehended 
in  May  last  as  a  vagrant,  for  selling  religious  tracts 
in  Bishopsgate  church-yard,  without  a  hawker’s 
license,  and  sent  to  the  city  bridewell  for  a  month. 


17 


There  he  passed  the  day  with  twenty  men  and  four 
boys  committed  for  various  crimes,  and  he  slept  with 
a  prisoner  who  employed  him  to  pick  pockets  and 
steal  from  the  other  prisoners,  and  received,  as  the 
boy  says,  the  produce  of  his  thefts.  The  man  and 
live  others  took  a  fever,  and  the  boy  continued  to 
sleep  with  him  during  its  progress,  He  caught  it 
himself,  brought  it  home,  and  communicated  it  to  his 
father,  mother,  and  three  brothers,  one  of  whom  died. 
The  father  told  me,  that  before  his  apprehension,  he 
was  a  good  and  dutiful  son,  and  that  he  had  no  fault 
to  find  with  him.  His  mother  said  he  was  a  quiet 
demure  boy,  fond  of  reading,  and  always  willing  to 
go  with  her  to  a  place  of  worship.  Now,  he  never 
takes  a  book  into  his  hands,  except  to  purloin  it ;  and 
if  she  mentions  any  religious  service,  she  is  answered 
by  execrations  on  her  and  her  advice.  She  placed 
him  in  a  school,  but  he  sent  word  to  the  master,  with 
a  desperate  oath,  that  he  would  never  go  again.  She 
cannot  keep  any  work  in  the  house.  He  has  stolen 
and  sold  her  bible,  his  father’s  clothes,  and  the  clothes 
lent  by  the  Raven-row  school  to  his  brother :  he  is 
seldom  at  home :  his  father  has  found  him  at  night 
sleeping  in  the  baskets  of  Covent  Garden,  with  a 
horde  of  girls  and  boys,  thieves  and  prostitutes.  I  was 
much  struck  with  the  behaviour  and  feeling  lamenta¬ 
tions  of  his  parents.  They  spoke  to  the  boy  more 
in  sorrow  than  in  anger,”  and  even  excused  his  un¬ 
kindness  and  depravity,  as  resulting  from  this  con¬ 
finement.  On  the  other  hand,  I  was  as  much  struck 
with  the  hard,  careless,  scornful  manner  in  wliich 
he  replied.’  ”  Such  were  the  eficcts  of  the  im¬ 
prisonment  of  a  child  in  a  common  jail ;  and 

3 


18 


such  must  always  be  its  destructive  effects.  Nor 
are  they  limited  to  any  grade  of  offence^  nor  to 
those  who  have  been  convicted.  Those  who  are 
committed  for  the  slightest  misdeeds^  (as  happened  in 
the  instance  just  quoted^)  and  those  who  are  commit¬ 
ted  for  trial,  innocent  perhaps  of  what  is  imputed  to 
them,  are  alike  exposed  to  the  ruinous  action  of  the 
corrupting  mass  into  which  they  are  thrown. 

The  unhappy  beings  who  are  thus  by  the  nature 
of  our  institutions,  and  for  the  security  of  society, 
placed  in  a  course  of  training  which  must  inevitably 
lead  to  misery  and  vice ;  who  are  hurried,  as  it  were, 
to  maturity  of  wickedness,  often  to  premature,  and 
sometimes  to  infamous  death,  are  the  children  of  the 
poor.  They  are  generally  neglected  and  destitute, 
frequently  without  parents  or  friends  to  •  advise  or 
direct  them;  and  there  are  not  wanting  numerous 
instances  in  which  abandoned  parents,  for  their  own 
gratification,  direct  their  children  into  the  paths  of 
vice,  by  sending  them  into  the  streets  to  beg  or  to 
steal.  There  is,  besides,  a  case  of  by  no  means  rare 
occurrence,  appealing,  if  possible,  still  more  power¬ 
fully  to  our  sympathy — the  case  of  a  widowed  mother, 
who  sees  her  son  rushing  upon  destruction,  and  is 
unable  by  any  authority  she  can  employ,  or  by  any 
influence  she  can  exert,  to  reclaim  him  from  his  evil 
ways,  or  arrest  him  in  his  progress  to  ruin.  Where 
can  she  look  for  assistance  or  relief?  If  the  power 
of  the  law  be  interposed,  it  sends  him  to  jail,  where 
he  becomes  still  more  degraded,  and  is  condemned 
to  deeper  contamination.  The  true  judgment  of  a 
mother’s  never-dying  affection  would  readily  assent 
to  restraint,  if  accompanied  with  care  and  instruction. 


19 


and  freed  from  the  stigma  and  the  poison  of  a  con¬ 
finement  in  prison.  But  the  jail  she  regards  as  an 
extremity  so  disastrous^  that  tears  and  prayers,  and 
every  exertion  she  can  employ,  are  used  to  avert  it, 
and  when  at  last  it  comes,  it  is  an  overwhelming 
calamity.  Thus  is  she  doomed  to  witness  the  down¬ 
ward  course,  and  final  ruin,  of  her  child,  without  the 
power  to  save  or  to  help  him,  like  the  poor  mother 
bird,  that  sees  its  unfledged  brood,  which  it  has  fed 
from  its  mouth,  and  sheltered  with  its  wings,  violently 
torn  from  the  nest,  and,  helpless  to  preserve  them 
from  the  destroyer,  can  do  nothing  but  utter  a  pierc¬ 
ing  cry  of  anguish  and  despair. 

This  is  no  fancy  sketch ;  nor  is  it  drawn  from  other 
countries,  or  from  other  times.  More  than  one  un¬ 
happy  and  anxious  mother  has  already  applied  to  the 
managers,  and  found  a  new  hope  in  the  prospect 
of  a  Refuge. 

If  such  be  the  nature  of  the  institutions  and  laws, 
and  such  their  inadequacy,  or  worse  than  inadequacy, 
in  the  case  of  juvenile  delinquents — if  the  security 
of  society  requires,  that  without  regard  to  their  fee¬ 
bleness,  their  destitution,  their  inevitable  ignorance, 
they  should  be  treated  as  criminals,  surely  it  is  a 
noble  charity  which  seeks  to  devise  and  to  execute  a 
plan  for  extending  to  them  parental  aid,  affording 
them  the  means  of  instruction,  and  leading  them  into 
the  ways  of  industry  and  innocence — which  endeav¬ 
ours  to  rescue  them  from  the  effects  of  their  unfor¬ 
tunate  condition,  ascribing,  with  equal  justice  and 
humanity,  their  errors,  and  even  their  vices  and  their 
crimes,  to  the  want  of  that  aid  which  childhood 
always  requires. 


•20 


Voii^  vvliotu  the  bounty  of  Providence  htis  blessed 
with  the  means  of  conducting  your  children  with 
every  advantage^  through  the  periods  of  childhood 
and  youth,  of  cultivating  their  moral  and  intellectual 
growth,  of  guarding  them  from  the  approach  of  dan¬ 
ger,  and  in  due  time  placing  them  with  strengthened 
powers  in  a  respectable  position  in  society,  how  great 
a  debt  of  gratitude  do  you  owe?  Acquit  yourselves 
of  some  small  portion  of  it  by  helping  your  destitute 
fellow  creatures.  Think  of  the  little  neglected  wan¬ 
derer,  abandoned  to  his  own  weakness,  without  pa¬ 
rental  instruction,  without  counsel,  almost  without  a 
home,  and  extend  to  him  some  support,  when  he  is 
in  danger  of  falling ;  help  to  provide  for  him  a  Re¬ 
fuge,  that  the  blossom  of  hope,  which  has  lived 
through  poverty  and  neglect,  may  not  be  finally 
blasted  by  the  impure  atmosphere  of  a  jail.  You  will 
still  be  debtors,  largely  debtors;  but  when  you  are 
bestowing  a  parent’s  benediction  upon  the  tender 
objects  of  your  love,  the  tear  of  thankfulness  and  joy 
that  springs  from  a  grateful  heart,  will  not  be  the  less 
sweet  or  pure,  for  a  consciousness  that  we  have  done 
something  to  impart  to  others  a  portion  of  that  com¬ 
fort  which  is  so  freely  given  to  us. 

We  would  remind  our  fellow  citizens,  in  the  next 
place,  that  the  objection  to  individual  aid  applies 
equally  to  every  sort  of  contribution,  of  time  as  well 
as  of  money ;  and,  indeed,  to  every  kind  of  exertion. 
Those  who  give  their  labour,  give  that  which  is  as 
substantial,  and  as  valuable  as  money.  But  would  it 
for  a  moment  be  insisted,  that  the  faculties  of  indivi¬ 
duals,  their  time,  their  exertions,  and  their  means, 
are  to  be  entirely  and  exclusively  devoted  to  their 


21 


own  individual  concerns — that  no  effort  is  to  be  made 
to  devise  improvements,  no  contribution  of  time,  or 
talent,  or  money,  to  introduce  them — that  the  human 
intellect  is  to  be  bound  up  in  the  narrow  limits  of  our 
own  personal  affairs,  and  the  feelings  of  man  to  be 
quickened  by  no  generous  sympathy  for  others? 
Happily,  there  are  very  few  who  practically  adopt 
this  doctrine.  In  a  government  like  ours,  where  the 
representative  is  chosen  from  amongst  ourselves,  and 
is  constantly  dependent  upon  public  opinion  for  sup¬ 
port,  he  must  be  animated  and  sustained,  in  all  new 
undertakings  of  magnitude,  by  the  expressed  sense 
of  the  community,  and  the  assured  co-operation  of  his 
fellow  citizens.  His  powers  are  limited ;  those  of  in¬ 
dividuals  are  without  restriction.  This  has  been  the 
history  of  all  improvements,  and  this  is  the  history 
of  all  the  institutions  of  humanity  which  constitute  the 
pride  and  the  ornament  of  our  city  and  our  state. 
The  enthusiasm  of  private  benevolence,  guided  by 
individual  intelligence,  has  led  the  way,  and  the  Le¬ 
gislature  has  never  been  slow,  in  proper  cases,  to 
afford  its  aid  in  advancing  the  work.  Look  around 
you  in  every  direction ;  begin  at  a  remote  period ;  ex¬ 
plore  the  foundations  of  all  those  establishments  which 
Philadelphia  can  exhibit  as  her  jewels,'^  and  you 
will  find  that  they  were  laid  by  the  hands  of  indivi¬ 
duals,  and  in  part,  or  entirely,  built  up  and  sustained 
by  individual  contribution.  There,  too,  you  will  find 
(its  source  hidden  by  time  or  distance,)  the  begin¬ 
nings  of  the  reputation  of  our  benefactors ;  there  you 
will  discern  the  means  by  which  the  memory  of  the 
dead  has  come  to  us  embalmed  by  their  works  of  be^ 
neficence,  still  fragrant  and  fresh;  and  there  too  you 


22 


will  learn  how  their  living  followers  are  to  make 
themselves  worthy  to  be  associated  in  the  remembrance 
of  posterity  with  their  illustrious  predecessors.  What 
would  Philadelphia  have  been  without  her  institutions 
of  humanity  and  charity?  She  would  scarcely  have 
deserved  the  title  of  a  civilized  or  a  Christian  com¬ 
munity. 

It  may  be  difficult  to  draw  with  precision  the  line 
beyond  which  individuals  ought  not  to  be  expected 
to  advance — where  they  may,  without  hesitation, 
trust  entirely  to  the  interposition  of  the  public  power. 
There  are  cases,  undoubtedly,  where  the  Legislature 
ought  to  have  the  exclusive  cognizance,  and  where 
the  charge  should  fall  upon  the  public  purse.  There 
are  cases,  too,  where  the  burthen  must  be  borne  by 
individuals.  But  there  are  cases  where  they  may 
most  beneficially  co-operate,  and  in  which  it  is  im¬ 
possible  to  determine  the  exact  proportion  which  shall 
fall  upon  each.  But  let  us  not  be  too  anxious  on 
this  point.  Charity,  like  mercy,  is  twice  blessed ; 
it  blesseth  him  that  gives,  and  him  that  takes  and 
it  is  in  the  order  of  Providence  that  this  blessing  shall 
never  be  wanting  to  him  that  gives.  He  hath  dis- 
,  persed,^^  says  the  inspired  psalmist ;  ‘‘  he  hath  given 
to  the  poor;  his  righteousness  endureth  for  ever;  his 
horn  shall  be  exalted  with  honour.’’  In  the  very  act 
of  charity  there  is  a  process  of  purification  in  the 
heart  of  the  giver,  which  elevates  his  feelings  and  im¬ 
proves  his  character.  Besides,  it  is  an  individual 
duty,  which  individuals  only  can  perforin.  It  must 
be  voluntary.  The  moment  it  becomes  compulsory, 
it  is  no  longer  charity.  It  may  benefit  him  that 
takes,”  but  its  virtue  to  him  that  gives”  is  gone. 


23 


For  this  particular  object^  as  entitled  to  individual 
care^  we  have  the  countenance  of  precept  and  exam¬ 
ple,  and  the  encouragement  of  the  success  which  has 
followed  exertion  in  the  same  career.  A  little  more 
than  forty  years  ago,  the  Philadelphia  Society  for 
Alleviating  the  Miseries  of  Public  Prisons,’^  was 
founded  by  a  few  of  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia;  and 
that  venerable  man^  whose  long  life  has  been  devoted 
to  the  service  of  his  Maker  and  his  fellow  creatures, 
with  exemplary  purity  and  faithfulness,  was  appointed 
to  the  station  of  president,  which  he  has  since  occu¬ 
pied  without  interruption,  and  still  continues  to 
occupy.  ^^When  we  consider,’^  they  say  in  the 
preamble  to  their  constitution,  that  the  obligations 
of  benevolence  which  are  founded  on  the  precepts 
and  example  of  the  author  of  Christianity,  are  not 
cancelled  by  the  follies  or  crimes  of  our  fellow  crea¬ 
tures;  and  when  we  reflect  upon  the  miseries  which 
penury,  hunger,  cold,  unnecessary  severity,  unwhole¬ 
some  apartments,  and  guilt,  (the  usual  attendants  of 
prisons,)  involve  with  them,  it  becomes  us  to  extend 
our  compassion  to  that  part  of  mankind,  who  are  the 
subjects  of  these  miseries.  By  the  aids  of  humanity, 
their  undue  and  illegal  sufferings  may  be  prevented ; 
the  links  which  should  bind  the  whole  family  of  man¬ 
kind  together,  under  all  circumstances,  be  preserved 
unbroken ;  and  such  degrees  and  modes  of  punishment 
may  be  discovered  and  suggested,  as  may,  instead  of 
continuing  habits  of  vice,  become  the  means  of  restor¬ 
ing  our  fellow  creatures  to  virtue  and  happiness.^’ 
They  soon  aftefr  addressed  the  public,  asking  for 
pecuniary  aid,  stating  that  the  funds  of  the  society 
were  confined  to  an  annual  subscription /rom  each  of 

*  The  Right  Rev.  Dr.  White,  Bishop  of  rennsylvania. 


24 


its  mamhers^  and  a  ground-rent  of  fourteen  pounds, 
the  donation  of  John  Dickinson,  Esq. 

This  little  band  of  philanthropists  went  resolutely 
to  work,  and  in  the  forty  years  that  have  elapsed, 
have  persevered  unceasingly  in  their  exertions  to 
promote  the  humane  object  of  their  association. 
Their  history  has  lately  been  given  to  us  by  Mr. 
Vaux.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  to  their  labours, 
under  Providence,  we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  an 
entire  revolution  in  the  conduct  and  management  of 
our  prisons;  to  them,  in  a  great  measure,  we  owe 
the  credit  of  having  been  the  first  to  introduce  the 
penitentiary  system,  as  well  as  the  amelioration  of  our 
penal  code.  If  the  penitentiary  has  failed  of  its  pur¬ 
pose,  from  want  of  accommodation,  or  from  other 
causes,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Legislature  will 
afford  the  means  of  remedying  its  defects,  and  of 
giving  it  a  fair  and  full  experiment. 

Still,  with  all  its  imperfections,  our  present  system 
offers  a  striking  contrast  to  that  which  existed  at  the 
period  referred  to.  Tried  and  untried  prisoners,  of 
all  ages  and  colours,  and  of  both  sexes,  of  every  grade 
of  offence,  and  of  every  variety  of  character,  and 
even  the  poor  debtors,  who  had  committed  no  offence 
at  all,  were  thrown  into  one  common  herd,  in  an  ill 
contrived  building,  which  retained  the  abomination 
of  a  subterraneous  dungeon  for  prisoners  under  sen¬ 
tence  of  death.  ‘‘  What  a  spectacle,^’  exclaims  Mr. 
Vaux,  ^^must  this  abode  of  guilt  and  wretchedness 
have  presented?’^  Well  might  he  ask  the  question. 
A  den  of  wild  beasts,  desperate  from  confinement, 
and  mad  from  hunger,  abandoned  to  the  work  of  mu¬ 
tual  destruction,  would  be  but  a  faint  type  of  such  an 


25 


assemblage.  The  brute  obeys  his  instinct;  but  to 
condemn  a  human  being  to  an  existence  where  mere 
brutal  ferocity  will  assume  the  dominion  over  him,  is 
to  be  accessary  to  the  crime  of  effacing  the  image  of 
his  Maker,  and  robbing  him  of  the  attributes  of  hu¬ 
manity.  Many  details  will  be  found  in  the  pamphlet 
referred  to,  which  time  will  not  allow  to  be  repeated.. 
There  is  one,  however,  which  is  not  less  curious  than 
important.  A  clergyman,^  who  was  a  member  of  the 
acting  committee,  proposed  to  preach  to  the  prison¬ 
ers.  His  efforts  were  resisted  by  the  keeper ;  and 
when  at  last  by  perseverance  he  gained  admission,  he 
found  (on  a  Sunday)  a  loaded  cannon  with  a  lighted 
match  beside  it,  prepared  by  the  keeper,  pointed  at 
the  prisoners,  and  ready  to  do  the  work  of  destruction 
upon  the  least  commotion.  Such  were  the  fears  which 
the  keeper  felt,  or  affected  to  feel,  of  his  inmates. 

It  was  with  the  sanction  and  the  approbation  of  this 
society  that  the  present  plan  was  put  forward,  as  a 
most  material  and  humane  improvement. 

Is  it  necessary  for  me  to  add,  as  a  further  motive 
to  influence  the  charitable,  that  wherever  a  Refuge 
has  been  established,  its  support,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
has  been  supplied  by  the  contribution  of  individuals  ? 
The  London  Refuge  was  thus  begun,  and  has  thus 
been  maintained.  In  our  sister  city,  which  gave  us 
an  example  of  a  Refuge  in  full  operation  before  we 
had  yet  moved,  the  subscriptions  of  individuals  have 
not  only  been  larger  than  here,  but  they  have  borne 
a  larger  proportion  to  the  aid  afforded  by  the  state. 
Shall  we  be  outdone  in  charity?  They  laboured  in 
an  untried  work;  we  have  the  light  of  their  expe- 

•  The  late  Rev.  Dr.  Rogers,  of  this  city. 

4 


26 


riencc.  They  persevered  in  the  face  of  doubt,  and 
their  exertions  have  been  crowned  with  success.  We 
have  every  ground  of  confidence,  and  yet  the  work 
languishes  in  our  hands.  The  Legislature  has  given 
us  a  liberal  earnest  of  its  intentions.  We  have  no 
reason  to  fear  that  it  will  ever  be  less  disposed  to  ex¬ 
tend  its  aid.  It  is  for  ourselves,  then,  to  do  what  is 
'  now  wanting,  in  humble  reliance  that  what  we  do  will 
not  be  done  in  vain. 

i 

But,  the  motives  which  have  now  been  adverted 
to,  are  not  the  only  ones  which  address  themselves 
to  us  upon  this  interesting  subject.  Our  interests, 
as  well  as  our  duties,  are  deeply  concerned  in  it.  The 
increase  of  juvenile  delinquency  has  for  a  long  time 
past  occasioned  the  most  serious  apprehension  and 
regret,  wherever  inquiry  has  been  made  into  the  state 
of  crime  and  punishment.  From  this  calamity,  we 
are  by  no  means  exempt.  On  the  13th  of  the  pre¬ 
sent  month,  there  were  in  prison,  under  conviction, 
thirty-nine  white  boys,  and  twenty-one  black,  making 
a  total  of  sixty.  Of  the  untried  boys,  we  have  no 

t 

account :  nor  have  we  any  account  of  the  girls,  as 
they  have  not  been  separated  from  their  seniors  in 
vice.  The  whole  number,  however,  if  ascertained, 
would  by  no  means  ascertain  the  extent  of  the  evil. 
The  repugnance  to  prosecuting  children,  even  when 
they  are  detected  in  offence,  and  the  inclination  of 
courts  and  juries  to  acquit  them,  out  of  compassion 
for  their  tender  years,  rather  than  consign  them  to 
the  destruction  of  a  prison,  leave  many  at  large  to 
pursue  their  course  of  iniquity.  The  aggregate  cannot 
be  conjectured.  It  includes  a  great  variety.  Among 
the  thirty-nine  white  boys  named  in  the  list  from  the 
prison,  there  are  eleven  who  are  styled  by  the  keeper 


27 


good  boys/^  from  which  we  may  understand  that 
there  is  nothing  in  their  dispositions  or  habits  deci¬ 
dedly  vicious.  With  care  and  instruction  they  would 
probably  be  reclaimed,  and  become  useful  members 
of  society.  But  what  is  their  condition  now,  and  what 
are  their  prospects?  Branded  with  the  infamy  of  a 
jail — lost  to  the  feeling  of  shame — turned  loose  upon 
the  world — cut  off  from  intercourse  with  the  honest 
part  of  the  community — without  counsel,  aid,  or  in¬ 
struction,  they  are  forced  into  the  society  of  the  vi¬ 
cious,  and  driven  to  crime  for  a  subsistence.  They 
are  irretrievably  lost,  when  they  might  have  been 
saved.  Rejected  by  society,  excluded  from  honest 
occupation,  with  the  world  in  hostility  against  them, 
they  naturally  become  enemies  of  the  world,  and  grow 
into  the  most  desperate  offenders. 

An  intelligent  magistrate  of  England,  in  a  letter 
recently  published,  has  some  very  striking  remarks 
on  this  point.  They  are  entitled  to  great  attention, 
because  they  are  founded  on  actual  observation,  made 
in  the  course  of  a  long  experience.  Early  impri¬ 
sonment,  therefore,”  he  says,  ‘‘  is  the  great  and  pri¬ 
mary  cause  from  which  crime  originates.  From  this 
source  most  of  the  evils  flow  which  affect  the  youth¬ 
ful  offender,  and  at  the  earliest  age  lead  him  into 
those  paths  of  vice,  from  which  afterwards  there  is 
no  escape;  from  which  the  light  of  hope  is  almost 
excluded,  and  where  the  tears  of  repentance  are  ge¬ 
nerally  disregarded.  Whatever  may  have  been  his 
first  propensities  at  his  first  commitment,  he  invaria¬ 
bly  becomes  worse  and  worse,  and  leaves  his  prison 
fully  instructed  in  all  the  mysteries  of  crime.  You 
will  find  the  still  lingering  blush  of  shame  quickly 


28 


give  way  to  the  stare  of  habitually  profligate  asso¬ 
ciates  ;  and  you  will  hardly  recognise  in  the  familiar 
boldness  of  the  felon,  the  distressed  and  desponding 
novice  in  his  profession.  To  him  to  return  is  as  fatal 
as  to  proceed;  he  is  impelled  onwards  by  every  im¬ 
pulse  which  bad  example,  bad  company,  and  the 
scoffs  of  the  world  have  raised  in  him ;  till  at  last 
he  is  driven  down  the  gulf,  which  has  so  long  yawned 
to  entomb  its  living  victim  of  destruction.’^  (Sir 
Eardly  Wilmot’s  letter. ) 

In  the  sixth  report  of  the  committee  of  the  Prison, 
Society  of  London,  it  is  remarked,  that  Many  hun¬ 
dreds  of  these  lads  (committed)  have  either  no  pa¬ 
rents,  or  have  been  deserted  by  them.  Thus  aban¬ 
doned,  they  have  made  fellowship  with  others  alike 
friendless,  contracted  a  desire  for  wandering,  and  an 
aversion  to  restraint ;  they  live  from  day  to  day  by 
preying  on  the  property  of  others;  at  night  they 
usually  sleep  in  the  open  air.  Their  minds  are  in  a 
state  of  the  darkest  ignorance,  and  the  grossest  vice. 
They  are  very  frequently  brought  up  before  the 
magistrates  for  petty  offences.  They  are  committed 
for  short  periods ;  and  when  liberated,  are  very  soon 
again  in  prison.  They  continue  pilfering,  increasing 
in  guilt  as  they  advance  in  years,  until  their  career  is 
terminated  by  transportation  or  death.”  And  in  a 
note  it  is  stated,  that  one  boy,  but  nine  years  of 
age,  who  has  been  under  the  notice  of  the  committee, 
had  been  eighteen  times  committed  to  the  different 
prisons  in  the  metropolis.” 

It  is  needless  to  dwell  upon  the  facts  which  have 
been  stated.  They  speak  a  language  too  plain  to  be 
misunderstood,  and  addressing  itself  to  every  think- 


29 


ing  mind  with  irresistible  force.  Do  you  desire  that 
crime  should  increase,  that  criminals  should  be  multi¬ 
plied,  and  become  more  hardened  and  dangerous? 
Do  you  wish  that  your  security  from  depredation 
should  be  every  day  rendered  more  precarious,  and 
the  expense  of  providing  guards  for  your  property 
and  peace,  be  constantly  augmented?  Are  you  will¬ 
ing  that  the  generation  which  is  rising,  and  of  which 
your  own  children  form  a  part,  should  be  exposed  to 
the  evils  that  have  just  been  exhibited?  You  cannot 
be.  The  dictates  of  prudence,  as  well  as  the  sugges¬ 
tions  of  charity  and  mercy,  say,  No.  While  com¬ 
passion  is  pleading  to  the  heart  for  the  friendless  chil¬ 
dren  of  poverty  and  want,  wisdom,  speaking  to  the 
understanding,  is  telling  us  to  beware  how  we  encou¬ 
rage  or  permit  the  growth  of  ruffian  and  lawless  pro¬ 
pensities,  lest,  by  and  by,  we  should  have  to  encoun¬ 
ter  them  in  the  fulness  of  their  stature  and  strength. 
She  counsels  us  to  eradicate  them  by  culture  before 
they  have  struck  too  deep  into  the  soil,  and  in  their 
place  to  sow  the  seeds  of  wholesome  instruction. 
Wherever  we  succeed,  we  save  a  human  being  to 
society,  and  we  disburthen  the  jail  of  a  permanent 
tenant.  If,  notwithstanding  our  best  exertions,  some 
should  be  lost,  still  we  shall  have  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing,  that  but  for  those  exertions,  all  would  pro¬ 
bably  have  perished. 

To  fulfil  that  “  obligation  of  benevolence,’^  which, 
in  the  language  of  the  Philadelphia  Society  for  Alle¬ 
viating  the  Miseries  of  Public  Prisons,  ‘‘  is  not  can¬ 
celled  by  the  follies  and  crimes  of  our  fellow  crea¬ 
tures,”  especially  towards  those  of  them  whose  follies, 
or  even  crimes,  are  the  least  reprehensible,  and  to 


30 


supply  that  defect  in  our  criminal  institutions  which 
experience  has  shown  to  contribute  to  the  increase  of 
crime,  rather  than  to  its  prevention,  is  the  design  of 
the  House  of  Refuge. 

It  imposes  restraint,  for  restraint  is  necessary  no 
less  for  the  good  of  the  subject,  than  for  the  security 
of  society.  But  it  inflicts  no  punishment;  it  afiixes 
no  badge  of  disgrace ;  it  stamps  no  degradation ;  it 
regards  its  inmates  as  unfortunate  children,  exposed 
in  their  weakness,  without  support,  and  bowed  down 
by  the  storms  and  temptations  of  life,  but  capable  of 
being  restored  to  uprightness  by  steady  treatment 
and  judicious  care. 

Upon  this  simple  and  humane  basis,  all  the  regula¬ 
tions  of  the  House  are  framed.  The  general  object  is, 
to  impart  to  the  inmates  religious  and  moral  instruc¬ 
tion  ;  to  form  them  to  useful  and  orderly  habits ;  to 
furnish  them  with  wholesome  occupation ;  and  at  a 
suitable  age,  if  they  prove  themselves  worthy,  to  bind 
them  as  apprentices  to  some  reputable  employment, 
so  that  they  may  be  enabled  to  earn  an  honest  liveli¬ 
hood,  and  maintain  an  honest  station  in  society. 

It  affords  me  sincere  satisfaction  to  be  able  to  say, 
and  to  the  managers  it  affords  the  most  confident  hope, 
that  the  plan  has  proved  eminently  successful.  So 
long  ago  as  in  the  year  1819,  Mr.  Hoare,  in  his  exa¬ 
mination  before  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Com¬ 
mons,  made  this  statement: — In  the  different  pri¬ 
sons  I  have  visited,  the  reformation  of  the  boys  is 
generally  considered  as  hopeless ;  in  the  Refuge  we 
generally  succeed.  The  classification  is  not  so  per¬ 
fect  as  I  think  desirable,  but  the  funds  of  the  society 
are  very  low,  and  we  are  obliged  to  do  the  best  we. 
can.’^ 


31 


The  Warwick  County  Asylum  (an  imperfect  Re¬ 
fuge,  it  would  seem,  where  boys  were  generally  re¬ 
ceived  only  after  conviction,  and  consequently  after 
the  contamination  of  a  prison,)  established  injl818, 
and  supported  solely  by  voluntary  contributions,  is 
stated  to  have  been  of  infinite  benefit.  Out  of  eighty- 
one  boys,  thirty-nine  have  been  ascertained  to  have 
been  permanently  reformed ;  twenty-one  have  been 
since  tried  at  Warwick,  and  sixteen  remain.  Boys, 
says  Sir  Eardly  Wilmot,  have  occasionally  been  re¬ 
ceived  into  the  Asylum  without  being  tried  and  con¬ 
victed  ;  and  I  have  it  on  the  best  authority  to  say 
that  the  facility  of  reform  is  incalculably  greater  with 
such  boys  than  with  convicted  felons. 

In  the  London  Refuge,  and  in  the  Refuge  of  New 
York,  a  friend  who  has  accurately  examined  the 
statements,  informs  me  that  a  permanent  reform  has 
been  effected  in  the  proportion  of  nine  out  of  ten. 
The  cases  detailed  are  numerous  and  interesting,  and 
it  is  desirable  that  they  should  be  extensively  known, 
as  they  present  a  most  powerful  argument  in  favour 
of  the  plan. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  a  solution  has  thus 
been  found  for  a  difficult  and  afflicting  problem.  The 
public  security  may  be  reconciled  with  a  just  and 
humane  attention  to  the  circumstances  of  unfortunate 
youth.  Our  feelings  may  be  spared  the  dreadful  sa¬ 
crifice  of  juvenile  victims,  which  existing  laws  and 
institutions  have  demanded — prosecutors,  magistrates, 
courts,  and  juries,  may  be  relieved  from  the  painful 
struggle  between  their  duty  and  their  strong  inclina¬ 
tion — the  appalling  increase  of  juvenile  delinquency 
be  checked — the  quantity  of  crime  be  diminished— 


32 


and  the  seeds  of  vice^  which  are  vegetating  under  an 
unnatural  and  cruel  culture^  in  a  soil  capable  of  pro¬ 
ducing  good  fruit,  be  supplanted  by  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  that  germ  of  virtue,  which,  if  not  destroyed, 
is  sufficient,  under  Providence,  to  restore  in  some 
degree  the  likeness  in  which  man  was  made,  and  to 
lead  to  present  and  to  future  happiness. 

The  philanthropist  and  the  statesman  may  here 
concur.  He  who  desires  the  welfare  of  all  mankind, 
and  he  who  only  seeks  to  arrange  the  movement  of  a 
community  so  as  to  produce  security  and  peace,  will 
equally  find  his  purpose  promoted.  And  even  the 
most  rigid  economist,  looking  only  to  the  pecuniary 
cost,  (if  any  such  there  he)  will  have  nothing  to  ob¬ 
ject.  The  expense  of  maintaining  a  refuge,  is  not 
greater  than  the  expense  of  maintaining  a  jail.  The 
amount  required  to  support  its  inmates,  is  less  than 
the  cost  of  an  equal  number  in  prison.  And  if,  en¬ 
larging  his  view,  he  recollects,  that  those  who  begin 
their  days  in  a  jail,  most  commonly  become  a  bur¬ 
then  for  life,  subsisted  by  the  public  while  in,  and  by 
plunder  when  out;  whereas  the  Refuge,  working  a 
reform,  enables  them  to  support  themselves,  and  to 
contribute  something  to  the  general  expenses  of  so¬ 
ciety  ;  that  the  one  enlarges  the  sources  of  crime,  and 
swells  the  streams  that  flow  from  it,  and  the  other 
seeks  to  diminish  the  fountain  of  iniquity,  and  dry  up 
its  noxious  issues;  he  will  be  convinced  that  a  just 
economy  walks  hand  in  hand  with  charity  and  policy. 

That  considerations  like  these  will  eventually  ob¬ 
tain  for  the  Refuge  a  much  larger  support  from  the 
treasury  of  the  state  or  the  county,  we  have  no 
doubt.  But  the  present  object  is  to  put  it  into 


33 


operation,  upon  a  scale  of  usefulness  that  will  be 
creditable  to  those  with  whom  it  originated.  The 
state  and  the  county  have  contributed  twenty  thou¬ 
sand  dollars  towards  the  building,  and  have  provided 
a  revenue  for  supporting  the  establishment  of  five 
thousand  dollars  a  year  for  five  years,  making  a  total 
of  forty- five  thousand  dollars.  Individuals  have  given 
about  twelve  thousand  dollars.  Money  is  now  wanted, 
and  the  managers,  having  exhausted  their  efforts  to 
proceed  as  they  would  wish,  with .  the  means  which 
have  been  placed  at  their  disposal,  are  compelled 
again  to  appeal  to  your  enlightened  charity. 

If  at  this  moment  you  should  see  a  destitute  and 
helpless  child  approaching  the  brink  of  a  precipice, 
and  know  that  its  ignorant  steps  would  in  a  few  mo¬ 
ments  lead  it  to  destruction,  would  you  not  reach 
forth  your  hand  to  save  it?  Many  are  on  their  way 
to  that  yawning  monster,  a  jail,  which  devours  all  that 
is  sound  and  healthful  in  their  nature,  and  fills  the 
vacant  space  with  corruption.  Will  you  not,  from 
your  abundance,  give  something  to  save  them  from 
imminent  ruin,  and  yourselves  from  the  infliction  you 
must  suffer  from  them,  or  will  you  allow  the  mischief 
to  spread  and  grow  till  some  other  hand  shall  check 
it? 

It  was  said  of  an  eminent  heathen  sage,  that  he 
brought  philosophy  from  the  clouds,  and  fixed  her 

_  I 

abode  among  men.  The  Christian’s  philosophy  comes 
from  heaven,  brought  by  no  mortal  hands,  but  freely 
given  to  man  for  his  own  benefit  and  guidance.  It 
teaches  us  that  charity  is  like  unto  the  duty  enjoined 
by  the  first  and  great  commandment.” 

5 


•iy  3 


APPENDIX. 


Extract  from  the  Charge  of  the  Hon.  John  B.  Gibson,  Chief 
Justice  of  Pennsylvania,  to  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  Court  of 
Oyer  and  Terminer  of  the  City  and  County  of  Philadelphia, 
at  the  opening  of  that  Court  on  the  24/A  iVbi;.  1828. 

In  conclusion,  gentlemen,  let  me  invite  your  attention  to 
a  matter,  which,  though  not  within  the  range  of  your  im¬ 
mediate  duties,  is  yet  intimately  connected  with  the  admi¬ 
nistration  of  the  criminal  laws.  I  allude  to  the  House  of 
Refuge,  in  the  environs  of  your  city.  My  own  attention  has 
been  drawn  to  this  object,  by  two  addresses  of  the  managers, 
which  came  to  my  hands  only  last  night,  and,  consequently, 
too  late  to  enable  me  to  put  the  subject  before  you  in  alight 
as  favourable  as  it  merits.  The  documents,  however,  will 
be  submitted  to  you,  and  these  will  enable  you  to  become 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  its  details.  You  will  perceive 
that  the  principal  design  is,  to  provide  a  place  of  confine-* 
ment  juvenile  offenders,  where,  separated  from  the  society 
of  common  felons,  they  may  be  subjected  to  a  course  of 
treatment  calculated  to  bring  them  all  back  to  the  paths  of 
industry  and  virtue;  the  want  of  which  is  acknowledged  by 
every  one  conversant  with  the  transactions  of  our  criminal 
courts.  No  part  of  our  duty  is  attended  with  more  distress¬ 
ing  considerations,  than  the  sentencing  of  this  class  of  of¬ 
fenders.  Vengeance  is  not  the  object  of  the  law.  ’  To  reform, 
and  deter,  are  exclusively  the  legitimate  purposes  of  every  crimi¬ 
nal  code;  and  when  neither  of  these  is  to  be- accomplished, 
the  infliction  of  punishment  produces  nothing  but  a  useless 
addition  to  the  sum  of  human  suffering.  For  the  restoration 
of  those  who  have  grown  up  in  iniquity,  my  experience 
leads  me  to  conclude  that  nothing  can  be  done;  their  case  is 
hopeless,  and  the  efforts  of  society  must  be  limited  to  mea¬ 
sures  of  self-defence,  by  restraining  their  persons,  on  terms 
as  economical  and  consistent  with  humanity,  as  circumstan- 


36 


CCS  will  permit.  But  the  case  of  the  youthful  offender,  is 
attended  with  symptoms  infinitely  more  encouraging.  Youth 
is  the  season  for  the  formation  of  habits;  and  to  stop  the 
current  of  vice  it  is  necessary  to  mount  to  its  source.  That 
much  may  be  effected  by  a  judicious  course  of  treatment,  is 
conclusively  proved  by  the  experience  of  a  kindred  institu¬ 
tion  in  New  York.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  presumptuous  to 
affirm  that  such  a  course  will  be  successful  in  every  instance, 
but  it  would  be  consolatory  to  know,  that  our  interference 
will  not  necessarily  make  matters  worse,  and  that  chastise¬ 
ment  is  inflicted  as  much  for  the  benefit  of  the  culprit  as  of 
society.  These  considerations  frequently  press  painfully 
on  the  mind,  during  the  concluding  act  of  our  official  duty, 
in  the  consciousness  that  we  are  sentencing  a  youth,  not 
merely  to  the  penitentiary,  but  to  'perdition,,  and  thus  putting 
beyond  the  reach  of  hope,,  a  case  not  otherwise  desperate. 
The  institution,  as  it  at  present  exists,  is  on  a  scale  much 
too  limited  for  the  purpose.  Although  incorporated,  it  is, 
I  believe,  the  offspring  of  individual  munificence,  and  legis¬ 
lative  patronage,  and  a  further  appeal  to  these  sources  may 
become  necessary.  I  have,  therefore,  taken  occasion  to  in¬ 
troduce  the  subject  to  your  notice,  with  a  view  to  the  advan¬ 
tage  which  the  institution  would  indisputably  derive  from 
your  countenance,  should  you  deem  its  concerns  a  fit  subject 
for  a  report,  or  presentment. 


PRESENTMENT  OF  THE  GRAND  JURY. 

The  Grand  Inquest  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylva¬ 
nia,  inquiring  for  the  City  and  County  of  Philadelphia,  find 
great  pleasure  in  presenting  The  House  of  Refuge*^  as  an 
object  highly  deserving  the  consideration  of  this  community. 

This  Institution  was  incorporated  by  an  Act  of  Assembly, 
passed  the  23d  of  March,  1826.  A  building  was  commenced 
on  the  21st  June,  1827,  and  is  now  nearly  ready  to  receive 
the  objects,  for  whose  reformation  it  has  been  established. 

Few  charities,  as  the  Grand  Inquest  believe,  have  higher 


37 


claims  on  the  public^  and  few,  perhaps,  will  be  more  per¬ 
manently  useful. 

Here  the  misguided  and  neglected,  rather  than  guilty 
child,  will  find  an  abode,  where  religious  and  moral  princi¬ 
ples,  and  industrious  habits,  will  be  inculcated — where  vir¬ 
tue  will  be  cherished,  and  vice  repressed.  When  the  pupil 
leaves  the  institution,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  he  will  go  forth  into 
the  world  with  such  a  character  for  honesty  and  integrity, 
as  may  lead  the  virtuous  portion  of  society  to  receive  him 
among  them.  Instead  of  being  a  weight  on  the  community, 
supported  either  in  our  jails  or  alms-houses,  he  will  be  ena- 

I 

bled  to  bear  his  part  of  the  public  burthens. 

It  is  a  melancholy  fact,  that  in  our  prisons  reformation  is 
almost  hopeless.  The  youth  who  enters  their  walls,  compa¬ 
ratively  innocent,  soon  becomes  an  adept  in  every  species  of 
crime,  and  hardened  in  guilt.  On  his  discharge,  with  a 
ruined  character,  and,  often  without  the  means  of  support, 
he  finds  himself  avoided  by  the  good,  and  tempted  by  the 
wicked;  and  soon  plunges  again  into  a  career  of  vice,  which 
terminates  in  his  destruction. 

Far  different  will  be  the  fate  of  the  inmates  of  the  House 
of  Refuge,  where,  from  the  experience  derived  from  the 
London  and  New  York  Institutions,  we  may  safely  calculate, 
that  the  larger  proportion  will  be  saved. 

We  trust  that  an  institution,  so  deserving,  will  be  sus¬ 
tained  by  the  liberal  support  of  an  enlightened  and  benevo¬ 
lent  public. 

Signed,  Samuel  Richards,  Foreman. 
Samuel  F.  Bradford, 

F.  Vansant, 

Charles  Finney, 

George  M‘Callmont, 

Leonard  Stricker, 

♦ 

Benjamin  Johnson, 

Samuel  Newbold, 

Th  OMAs  Tompkins, 

Joseph  R.  Jenks, 

.  S.  Moss, 

•  '  C.  Holland. 

Philadelphia,  Nov.  26//z,  1828. 


38 


Extract  from  a  charge  of  the  Hon,  Joseph  Reed,  Recorder  of 
the  City,  to  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  Mayor^s  Court,  December 
Sessions,  1828. 

I  have  a  pleasure,  gentlemen,  in  calling  your  attention 
to  a  public  institution,  which  has  recently  gone  into  opera¬ 
tion,  and  from  which  the  most  signal  benefits  may  confident¬ 
ly  be  expected.  I  refer  to  the  House  of  Ref  uge.  Its  origin 
is  to  be  traced  to  individual  liberality  and  enterprise.  Its 
support  is  yet  dependent  upon  the  same  spirit  of  charity, 
which  called  it  into  existence.  It  is  reasonable,  however, 
^to  expect  that  legislative  patronage  also  will  be  extended  to 
an  institution  calculated  to  have  such  an  extensive  influence 
upon  the  interests  of  society.  The  establishment  of  an 
asylum  for  juvenile  delinquents,  is  an  event,  at  which,  as 
guardians  of  the  laws,  we  may  heartily  rejoice. ,  As  fellow- 
citizens  of  the  public  spirited  individuals,  who  conceived, 
and  after  surmounting  many  difficulties,  have  executed  the 
project,  we  have  reason  to  be  proud  of  their  well-directed 
charity.  To  the  magistrate,  the  punishment  of  youthful 
offenders  is  a  duty  inexpressibly  painful.  There  is  a  dis¬ 
tressing  consciousness,  that,  in  complying  with  the  severe 
requisitions  of  the  law,  he  is,  in  all  probability,  authorizing 
the  moral  ruin  of  the  individual,  by  consigning  him  to  the 
society  of  the  depraved  inmates  of  a  prison.  The  pain  at¬ 
tendant  on  the  performance  of  our  duty,  will,  in  future,  be 
'  alleviated  by  the  reflection,  that  the  sentence  of  the  law  re¬ 
moves  the  unpractised  convict  from,  the  influence  of  evil 
example,  to  an  asylum,  where  lessons  of  industry,  virtue, 
and  religion,  will  be  taught.  That  there  is  a  progress  in 
crime  corresponding  with  the  increasing  experience  of  the 
offender,  we  all  know.  The  boy  who  commits  a  trifling 
theft  to  gratify  a  childish  whim,  or  uncorrected  propensity, 
may,  by  instruction  in  the  schools  of  wickedness,  attain,  by 
regular  gradations,  an  eminence  of  infamy.  To  prevent 
this,  is  the  noble  object  of  the  institution  ,  which  I  have  men¬ 
tioned.  It  has  been  founded  to  rescue  the  unwary  from 
temptation  and  evil  example,  and,  to  obstruct  the  too 


39 


easy  paths  of  iniquity  and  crime..  For  its  support,  as  iden¬ 
tified  with  the  salutary  administration  of  justice,  I  earnestly 
solicit  your  co-operation.”  ' 

>  • 


The  following  resolutions  were  agreed  to  by  the  Board 
of  Managers  of  the  Alms-House  on  the  2()th  of  Nov.  1826, 
and  unanimously  adopted  by  'the  General  Board  of  Guar¬ 
dians,  on  the  22d  of  Nov.  1826.  .  , 

Resolved^  That  this  Board,  duly  appreciating  the  motives 
of  those  benevolent  citizens  wdio  are  now  interesting  them¬ 
selves  in  the  establishment  of  ‘‘  A  House  of  Refuge  in  this 
city  for  the  reformation  of  Juvenile  D^elinquents,”  do  fully 
‘and  cordially  approve  of  the  erection  of  such  an  Institution, 
which  will,  doubtless,  greatly  relieve  the  Managers  of  this 
House,  from  the  burden  of  the  worst  part  of  a  class  of  pau¬ 
pers,  whom,  under  present  circumstances,  they  are  unable 
•  to  regulate  in  such  manner  as  would  be  consistent  with 
habits  .of  industry,  and  that  moral  and  religious  instruction, 
which  all' children  ought  to  receive.  r  .  - 

Resolved^  That  this  Board,  being  anxious  to  witness  the 
establishment  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  cannot  withhold  the 
expression  of  its  belief  that  such  an  Institution  will  be  of 
incalculable  importance  to  the  objects  of  its  contemplated 
care  and  protection,  and' that  it  justly  merits  the  liberal  aid, 
support,  and  protection  of  all  classes  of  the  community. 


Extract  from  some  Remarks  on  the  House  of  Reformation  at  South 
Boston,  which  were  written  'by  the  Chief  Justice  of  Massachu¬ 
setts.  .  • 

“These  unhappy  little  victims  of  neglect,  or  shameful 
abuse  of  authority,  are  hardly  proper  subjects  of  punish¬ 
ment — their  offences  are  not  their  own — they  have  never 
been  taught  the  laws  of  God  or  man,  or  if  they  have,  it  has 
been  only  that  they  may  despise  them. 


40 


If  any  punishment  should  be  inflicted,  the  rod  of  the  mas¬ 
ter  would  be  more  suitable  than  the  prison,  where  their  bo- 
,  dies  and  minds  will  be  equally  cramped,  and  become  inca¬ 
pable  of  any  change  but  that  of  distortion  and  disease. 
What  more  terrible  than  to  immure  in  the  physically  and 
morally  foul  apartments  of  a  Jail,  a  child  of  eight  or-  ten 
years  of  age,  without  means  of  instruction  or  information, 
and  then  to  turn  him  into  the  world  with  an  atmosphere 
about  him,  which  will  repel  every  thing  fitted  to  purify  his 
body  or  his  soul!  Is  it  not  certain  that  such  an  outcast  will 
return  to  his  wallowing,  and  accumulate  filth  and  crime,  till 
he  has  become  fit  for  the  State  Prison  or  the  gallows? 

How  deeply  does  it  concern  the  community,  to  take  these 
little  creatures  by  the  hand,  when  they  shall  have  committed 
the  first  offence — withdraw  them  from  contamination  and 
guilt — provide  the  means  of  industry  and  education — soften 
their  minds  to  the  reception  of  moral  and  religious  truth — 
and  gradually,  by  gentle  treatment  and  wholesome  disci¬ 
pline,  lure  them  into  habits  of  order,  truth,  and  honesty.  Is 
there  any  greater  duty  in  a  Christian  country  than  this?  Is 
it  not  plucking  brands  from  the  burning,  and  saving  souls 
from  death?  Is  it  not  the  cheapest  and  the  best  way  of  pre¬ 
serving  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  the  community,  and 
guarding  the  fruits  of  industry. 

If  of  a  hundred  vagrant  boys  and  girls,  thrown  into  the 
streets  of  a  city  to  beg  and  steal,  one-half  the  number  shall 
be  taught  to  abhor  the  ways  of  sin,  and  become  honest,  in¬ 
dustrious,  useful' citizens,  is  not  more  good  done  than  if, 
after  a  long  course  of  profligacy  and  crime,  they  should  all 
come  to  the  gallows?  Surely  the  public  must  be  alive  to  this 
subject — and  it  is  matter  of  astonishment,  that  until  within 
a  year  or  two,  no  measures  have  been  taken  to  look  into  this 
great  affair,  and  adopt  some  plan  which  shall  lessen,  if  not 
cure  the  enormous  evil  of  juvenile  punishment,  without  re¬ 
formation. 

But,  thanks  to  the  wise  and  vigilant  administration  of  our 
city  government,  a  system  is  now  established,  sanctioned  by 
the  legislature,  which  promises  a  certain  and  a  radical  cure. 

I  wish  every  officer  of  our  government,  every  member  of 


41 


our  legislature,  and  every  intelligent  citizen  of  Boston,  could 
have  been  present  at  the  scene  which  I  lately  witnessed  at 
South  Boston. 

We  first  saw  the  boys,  in  the  whole  about  90,  distributed 
in  groups  in  different  apartments,  all  diligently  employed  in 
some  useful  handicraft — cheerful  and  busy,  in  their  working 
clothes,  and  under  the  superintendence  of  one  of  their  num¬ 
ber,  who  acted  as  monitor.  The  girls,  about  15,  were  at 
work  by  themselves,  under  a  woman  teaching  them  to  sew. 
After  a  walk  about  the  grounds,  we  returned  to  the  house, 
and  found  all  the  boys  with  their  frugal  dress  suits  on,  ready 
for  examination  by  the  superintendent — they  marched  into 
the  school-room  in  military  order,  like  young  recruits — 
perfectly  clean,  and  in  a  plain  uniform,  made  at  the  house, 
consisting  of  a  jockey,  blue  jacket  and  white  trowsers,  the 
cost  of  a  suit  being  but  one  dollar. 

In  this  examination,  I  could  see  nothing  different  from 
what  takes  place  at  our  common  schools.  In  geography, 
grammar,  minor  arithmetic,  they  seemed  to  me  to  answer 
as  well — in  the  elements  of  religion  and  morals,  they  ap¬ 
peared  to  have  been  instructed. 

I  came  away  delighted  with  this — prison  shall  I  call  it? 
No — school  of  reformation,  for  such  it  is,  and  ought  to  be 
for  such  subjects. 

Here  is  practical  ground  to  go  upon — vice  is  checked  in 
the  bud — the  tender  plant  is  straightened,  and  grows  into  a 
tree,  and  will  bear  fruit,  possibly  even  a  hundred  fold — 
crime  is  forgotten — a  new  nature  is  formed,  or  new  habits 
created,  and  I  am  much  mistaken  if  society  does  not  feel 
the  benefit  in  the  diminution  of  offenders.  I  am  not  so  san¬ 
guine  as  to  suppose  that  every  one  of  these  reclaimed  young 
sinners,  will  continue  in  the  ways  of  well-doing,  when  allow¬ 
ed  to  go  out  at  large — but  I  do  believe,  that  as  many  will  go 
from  this  school  to  the  workshop,  the  shrouds,  or  the  plough, 
with  as  good  disposition  and  as  honest  hearts,  as  will  (of  the 
same  class  of  boys)  from  any  other  school.’* 

Of  the  House  of  Reform,  the  Hon.  Edward  Livingston 
remarks, 

“  To  argue  the  utility,  or  to  descant  on  the  humanity  oT 

6 


12 


tills  estublishniciit,  after  clemonstratitig  its  justice,  would  be 
a  useless  task.  Every  mind  that  has  investigated  the  causes 
and  progress' of  crime,  must  acknowledge  the  one;  every 
benevolent  heart  must  feel  the  other.  And  even  economy, 
cold  calculating  economy,  after  stating  the  amount  in  dollars 
and  cents,  must  confess  that  this  is  a  money  saving  institu¬ 
tion. 

If  it  is  wise  to  prevent  a  hundred  atrocious  crimes,  by 
removing  the  opprobium  of  a  venial  fault  and  substituting 
instruction  for  punishment;  if  it  is  the  highest  species  of 
humanity  to  relieve  from  the  miseries  of  vice  and  the  de¬ 
gradation  of  crime;  to  extend  the  operation  of  charity  to 
the  mind;  and  snatch  with  its  angel  arm,  innocence  from 
seduction;  if  it  be  a  saving  to  society  to  support  an  infant 
for  a  few  years  at  school,  and  thereby  avoiding  the  charge 
of  the  depredations  of  a  felon,  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  and 
the  expense  of  his  future  conviction  and  confinement;  then 
is  the  school  of  Reform,  a  wise,  a  humane,  and  an  econo¬ 
mical  institution. 

In  the  city  of  New  York,  there  is  an  establishment  of  this 
kind,  which  can  never  be  visited  but  with  unmixed  emotion 
of  intellectual  pleasure.  It  now  contains  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  boys  and  twenty-nine  girls,  for  the  most  part 
healthy,  cheerful,  intelligent,  industrious,  orderly,  and  obe¬ 
dient;  animated  with  certain  prospect  of  becoming  useful 
members  of  society,  who,  but  for  this  establishment,  would 
still  have  been  suffering  under  the  accumulated  evils  attend¬ 
ant  on  poverty,  ignorance,  and  the  lowest  depravity,  with  no  ^ 
other  futurity  before  them,  than  the  penitentiary  or  the  gal¬ 
lows.” 


Extract  from  the  Report  of  a  Special  Committee  of  the  Common 
Council  of  New  York^  which  report  was  adopted  by  the  Com¬ 
mon  Council^  on  the  \si  of  March^  1824. 

The  committee  report  that  they  have  taken  into  conside¬ 
ration,  the  memorial  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  So¬ 
ciety  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents,  and  have 


conferred  with  gentlemen  appointed  on  behalf  of  the  said 
board,  and  that  they  “feel  a  pleasure  in  expressing  their 
approbation  of  the  laudal)le  objects,  which  they  have  in 
view.  Perhaps  no  institution  is  more  desirable  in  our  city, 
than  one  which  affords  a  place  of  refuge  for  neglected  and 
depraved  children,  just  entering  upon  the  paths  of  vice, 
where  they  may  be  reclaimed  from  their  bad  habits,  their 
minds  instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  learning,  and*  their 
time  devoted  to  some  useful  employment.  Also  a  refuge 
for  those  juvenile  convicts,  continually  discharged  from  the 
Bridewell  and  penitentiary,  many  of  whom  have  neither . 
friends,  parents,  or  employment  to  return  to.” 


Extract  of  a  letter  from  Hugh  Maxwell^  Esquire,  District  Attor¬ 
ney  of  the  City  and  County  of  New  York,  dated  2\st  of  Oct. 

1825. 

“  I  am  happy  to  state,  that  the  House  of  Refuge  has  had 
a  most  benign  influence  in  diminishing  the  number  of  juve¬ 
nile  delinquents.  The  most  depraved  boys  have  been  with¬ 
drawn  from  the  haunts  of  vice,  and  ‘the  examples  which 
they  gave,  in  a  great  degree,  destroyed. 

I  find  no  difficulty  now  in  checking  the  young  offenders. 
Before  the  establishment  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  a  lad  of 
fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age,  might  have  been  arrested 
and  tried  four  or  five  times  for  petty  thefts,  and  it  was  hard¬ 
ly  ever  that  a  jury  would  convict.  They  would  rather  that 
the  culprit  acknowledged  to  be  guilty,  should  be  discharged 
altogether,  than  be  confined  in  the  prisons  of  the  state  or 
county. 

This  disposition,  so  frequently  exercised  by  magistrates 
and  jurors,  rendered  the  lad  more  bold  in  guilt;  and  I  have 
known  instances  of  lads  now  in  the  House  of  Refuge,  being 
indicted  half  a  dozen  times,  and  as  often  discharged  to  re¬ 
new  their  crimes,  and  with  the  conviction  that  they  might 
steal  with  impunity. 

The  consideration,  however,  that  there  is  a  charity  wdiich 


44 


provides  for  objects  of  this  character,  has  removed  all  ob¬ 
jections  to  convictions  in  cases  of  guilt. 

Formerly,  too  many  citizens  were  reluctant  in  bringing 
to  the  police-office,  young  persons  who  were  detected  in  the 
commission  of  crimes.  This  operated  as  an  encourage¬ 
ment  to  depraved  parents,  to  send  very  young  children  to 
depredate  on  the  community, — if  detected,  they  knew  no 
punishment  would  follow.  This  is  one  cause  of  the  small 
number  of  juvenile  offenders  during  the  last  year.  I  might 
enlarge  on  the  benefits  of  this  noble  charity,  were  it  neces¬ 
sary.  Of  this  I  am  certain,  that  no  institution  has  ever 
been  formed  in  this  country  by  benevolent  men,  more  useful 
and  beneficent.” 


Extracts  from  the  Second  Jlnnual  Report  of  the  Managers  of 
the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents. 

“  By  the  report  of  a  committee  of  the  Society  for  the 
Prevention  of  Pauperism,  made  in  June,  1823,  it  appears 
that  during  the  year  1822,  more  than  450  persons,  under  25 
years  of  age,  had  been  sentenced  in  the  Court  of  Sessions, 
either  to  the  City  Bridewell  or  to  the  penitentiary,  and  that 
of  those,  a  considerable  number  were  between  the  ages  of 
9  and  16  years.  That  the  average  number  of  lads,  arraigned 
at  the  Sessions  for  petty  thefts,  was  five  or  six  monthly. 
And  that  75  a  year,  for  the  three  preceding  years,  had  been 
sentenced  to  the  penitentiary,  and  one-half  of  that  number 
for  the  second  and  third  offences.  It  was,  therefore,  evident 
from  these  melancholy  facts,  that  motives  of  public  good, 
as  well  as  of  private  benevolence,  called  loudly  for  the  de¬ 
vising  of  some  means  by  which  this  great  and  growing  evil 
might  be  remedied.” 


I 


45 


Extract  from  the  Report  of  a  Committee  of  the  Senate  of 

New -York. 

“  If  the  House  of  Refuge  were  to  be  considered  merely 
as  a  place  where  so  many  children  may  be  rescued  from 
poverty,  reclaimed  from  the  haunts  of  vice  and  wickedness, 
protected,  instructed,  and  reformed,  it  would  be  a  charity 
having  the  highest  claims  to  the  liberality  and  bounty  of 
government.  But  when  viewed  as  a  means  by  which  the 
perpetration  of  crimes  will  be  prevented,  and  the  increased 
number  of  criminals,  which,  without  it,  the  state  would  be 
obliged  to  support  in  our  state  prisons,  it  is  believed,  that 
a  regard  to  economy  alone  would  require  the  support  of  this 
institution.  There  is  hardly  a  child  who  will  be  condemned 
to  it,  who,  if  left  to  the  course  which  would  bring  him  to 
the  House  of  Refuge,  would  not  finally  be  supported  by  the 
state  as  a  convict.  The  evidence  of  this  is,  that  a  very 
large  proportion,  as  your  committee  have  been  informed, 
and  as  they  believe,  who  are  now  confined  in  our  state  pri¬ 
sons,  commenced  their  career  in  crimes  when  they  were 
children,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  or  some  other  of  our 
large  cities.  One  person  in  particular,  who  is  now  con¬ 
fined  in  the  prison  in  Auburn,  was  first  convicted  when  he 
was  only  ten  years  old,  and  has  since  been,  at  different  times, 
twenty-eight  years  a  convict,  supported  by  the  state,  at  an 
expense  of  not  less  than  two  thousand  dollars.  This  case, 
which  is  by  no  means  singular,  except  as  to  time,  shows  at 
once  what  may  be  the  advantages,  even  in  point  of  economy, 
of  an  institution  which  will  arrest  young  persons  in  their 
progress  in  crime,  and  at  the  same  time  is  an  evidence  that 
confinement  in  the  state  prisons,  was  ill  calculated  to  pro¬ 
duce  reformation  in  young  offenders.” 


Mr.  Buxton’s  work  contains  an  address  made  by  a  man 
condemned  to  death  for  murder,  at  Douay,  in  France,  as 
affectingly  illustrating  the  evil  of  mingling  persons  of  all 
ages  together,  in  a  common  place  of  imprisonment.  “  This 


46 


* 

¥ 

individual  requested  to  speak  in  private  with  Mr.  Apert, 
when  he  thus  addressed  him:  ‘  I  await,’  said  he,  ‘  the  hour 
of  execution,  and  since  you  are  the  first  person  who  has 
visited  me,  I  will  address  you  with  confidence,  and  conceal 
from  you  nothing.  I  am  guilty  of  the  dreadful  crime  for 
which  I  am  to  suffer;  but  from  my  infancy  my  parents  ne¬ 
glected  me:  I  had  neither  a  moral  example,  nor  a  religious 
education:  I  was  abandoned  to  the  violence  of  my  passions; 
I  fell,  when  young,  into  bad  company,  by  whom  I  was  cor¬ 
rupted:  but  it  was  a  prison  that  completed  my  ruin.  Among 
the  persons  now  in  this  apartment,  are  several  boys,  who, 
with  pain  I  observe,  are  preparing  themselves  for  the  further 
commission  of  offences,  when  the  term  of  their  confinement 
shall  expire.  I  entreat  you  to  obtain  their  removal  into  a 
separate  ward,  and  snatch  them  from  the  contagion  of  such 
associates.  Believe  me,  sir — and  I  speak  from  bitter  expe¬ 
rience — you  can  confer  on  those  boys  no  greater  favour!” 


Lyons — House  of  Refuge., 

There  has  been  founded,  in  this  city,  a  House  of  Refuge, 
and  of  mechanical  labour  for  young  convicts,  by  M.  Barbier, 
a  worthy  and  enlightened  ecclesiastic.  To  restore  to  the 
paths  of  virtue  and  to  habits  of  useful  activity,  those  unfor¬ 
tunate  young  people  who  have  been  led  astray  liy  their  pas¬ 
sions,  or  by  the  miserable  lives  to  which  they  were  exposed, 
is  the  beneficent  object  of  this  institution.  A  society  com¬ 
posed  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  have  united  with  M. 
Barbier,  in  establishing  this  house,  destined  to  receive  and 
detain,  by  permission  of  the  civil  authority,  young  people 
condemned  to  a  limited  imprisonment.  This  House  of  Re¬ 
fuge  is  not  a  prison;  the  inmates  are,  nevertheless,  subject¬ 
ed  to  the  most  exact  superintendence.  The  object  which 
the  society  hopes  to  accomplish,  is  to  offer  to  young  prison¬ 
ers  an  admission  into  its  house  as  a  particular  favour,  and 
a  powerful  means  of  emulation  to  good  conduct  and  refer- 


47 


« 

matioii.  They  are  taught  reading,  writing,  calculation,-  and 
the  principles  of  religion. 

All  the  regulations  of  the  house  tend  to  inspire  them  with 
the  love  of  morality  and  order,  and  the  directors,  are  per¬ 
suaded  that  they  shall  enjoy  the  happiness  of  restoring  to 
society  many  young  persons,  who  might  otherwise  be  ranked 
among  the  most  corrupt  and  wretched  of  its  outcasts.  They 
will  be  discharged  from  the  house,  when,  by  a  sufficient 
course  of  good  conduct,  they  shall  have  deserved  the  cle¬ 
mency  of  the  sovereign  and  the  abbreviation  of  their  pun¬ 
ishment.  The  king,  the  princes,  the  princesses,  and  prin¬ 
cipal  authorities,  have  encouraged  this  interesting  establish¬ 
ment  by  special  gifts. 


The  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Prison  Discipline  Society 
of  Boston,  in  their  Second  Annual  Report,  speaking  of  the 
House  of  Refuge  there,  say,  “  Thus  an  institution,  which  had 
its  origin  in  private  benevolence,  has  raised  to  usefulness 
about  forty  miserable  youth  and  children,  who  might  other¬ 
wise  have  been  in  the  state  prison;  received  nearly  two  hun¬ 
dred  others  to  the  Refuge,  who  now  enjoy  its  advantages; 
diminished  greatly  criminal  prosecutions  in  the  city  among 
youth  and  children;  provided  a  refuge  for  juvenile  delin¬ 
quents  in  the  city  and  throughout  the  state;  obtained  the 
liberal  patronage  of  the  legislature,  and  now  affords  an  ex¬ 
ample  for  imitation  to  other  cities  and  countries  of  the  best 
mode,  which  was  ever  devised,  of  correcting  the  evil  propen¬ 
sities  of  unfortunate  and  vicious  youth.’* 


Cases  from  the  London  Reports, 

(1823.) 

A  lad,  at  the  age  of  13  years,  was  sentenced  to  transpor¬ 
tation  for  dishonest  practices,  and  was  sent  to  the  Hulks. 
At  the  expiration  of  four  years,  (his  conduct  on  board  the 
ship  having  been  uniformly  correct,)  he  received  his  majes¬ 
ty’s  pardon,  upon  the  condition  of  his ‘being  admitted  into 


48 


the  Refuge.  He  was  received,  and  taught  a  trade.  He  has 
now  been  in  the  world  nearly  two  years,  and  conducts  him¬ 
self  with  the  utmost  propriety. 

This  youth  was  totally  destitute.  He  had  no  friend,  to 
whom,  upon  his  liberation,  he  could  look  for  assistance. 
And,  if  this  institution  had  not  happily  intervened,  instead 
of  becoming  an  honest  and  useful  member  of  society,  he 
would,  in  all  probability,  have  returned  to  his  former  haunts 
of  criminal  association. 


(1824.) 

A  private  in  the  Royal  Marines,  being  ordered  upon  ser¬ 
vice  to  North  America,  was  under  the  necessity  of  leaving 
his  wife,  and  a  son,  ten  years  of  age,  at  Woolwich.  About 
a  year  after  his  departure,  the  mother  died,  leaving  the  boy 
an  orphan  and  friendless.  His  destitute  condition  being 
known,  he  was  noticed  by  some  of  the  military,  and  was  per¬ 
mitted  to  sleep  in  the  barracks,  whilst  he  went  about  during 
the  day  from  one  public  house  to  another,  earning  a  few 
pence  by  singing  ballads.  Having  lived  in  this  way  nearly 
two  years,  he  was  induced  to  leave  Woolwich,  and  to  go  to 
Sheerness,  where  he  hoped  to  meet  with  some  of  the  late 
comrades  of  his  father.  He  had  not  long  been  there,  when 
he  was  apprehended  for  having  robbed  a  person,  who  work¬ 
ed  in  the  dock-yard,  of  fifteen  shillings.  He  was  committed, 
brought  to  trial,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment. 
The  lord  chief  baron,  before  whom  the  boy  was  tried,  made 
application  in  his  behalf  to  the  Royal  Naval  Asylum,  and 
the  Philanthropic  Society,  from  both  of  which  his  age  ex¬ 
cluded  him.  ’  His  case  was  then  submitted  to  the  Commit¬ 
tee  of  the  Refuge  for  the  Destitute;  and  the  boy  being  him¬ 
self  anxious  to  be  placed  in  some  asylum  where  he  could  be 
saved  from  further  crime,  and  being  well  spoken  of  by  the 
chaplain  of  the  prison,  his  majesty’s  gracious  pardon  was 
soon  obtained  in  his  favour,  and  he  was  received  into  that 
institution,  where  he  affords  a  reasonable  hope,  that  he 
has  been  rescued  from  the  destruction  which  threatened  him, 
exposed  as  he  was  to  all  the  evils  of  a  vagabond  life  of  beg¬ 
gary,  want,  and  vice. 


49 


A  lad,  16  years  of  age,  was  convicted  at  the  Old  Bailey 
in  the  spring  of  the  year  1822,  before  the  honourable  Mr. 
Justice  Park,  of  stealing  a  coat.  His  case  was  commiserated 
by  the  judge,  who  respited  his  sentence,  and  recommended 
him  to  the  Refuge,  into  which  institution  he  was  immedi¬ 
ately  received. 

It  was  discovered  upon  inquiry,  that  his  father,  who  was 
addicted  to  drink  excessively,  had  forsaken  this  poor  child 
eighteen  months  before,  and  left  him  to  seek  his  own  sub¬ 
sistence,  which,  in  a  scanty  and  precarious  measure,  he  ob¬ 
tained,  by  sweeping  the  crossing  of  a  street  near  Charing 
Cross,  and,  occasionally,  directing  the  steps  of  passengers 
by  the  blaze  of  a  link.  Pie  had  received  a  very  small  por¬ 
tion  of  education;  no  modicum  of  advantage  from  the  ex¬ 
ample  of  a  parent,  and  no  blessing  from  those,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  watch  his  infant  steps,  and  point  them  towards 
heaven. 

The  discriminating  eye  of  the  judge  has  not  been  deceiv¬ 
ed.  The  lad  conducted  himself  well  in  the  Refuge  for  more 
than  twenty  months,  has  been  exemplary  in  his  conduct,  un¬ 
deviating  in  his  obedience,  and  active  in  his  trade;  and, 
whilst  this  record  is  under  the  pen  of  the  writer,  he  is  pre¬ 
paring  to  enter  into  the  employment  of  a  tradesman,  of  great 
respectability,  in  a  distant  county,  bearing  with  him  the  re¬ 
commendation  of  the  superintendent,  who  has  marked  his 
attention  and  progress,  and  the  cordial  and  affectionate  wish¬ 
es  of  those,  who  have  endeavoured  to  make  progress  with 
his  progress,  and  improvement  with  his  improvement,  iti 
the  Refuge  for  the  destitute. 


(1825.) 

A  little  girl,  between  ten  and  eleven  years  of  age,  residing 
at  Exeter,  was  induced  by  a  wicked  old  woman  to  make  her 
way  into  a  shop,  and  steal  from  a  box,  money  to  the  amount 
of  40/.  She  was  apprehended  and  tried  before  Mr.  Justice 
Richardson,  was  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  suffer  death. 
She  afterwards  received  his  majesty’s  gracious  pardon,  and 

7 


50 


was  received  into  the  Rel’u.^e,  wherein  she  remained  nearly 
two  years,  when  she  was  recommended  to  a  suitable  situa¬ 
tion.  She  has  behaved  well  for  twelve  months,  and  continues 
to  give  perfect  satisfaction  to  her  mistress. 


(1826.) 

J.  H.  aged  sixteen:  his  parents  died  when  he  was  very 
young,  and  he  was  brought  up  by  a  person  who  had  known 
his  mother.  Pie  was  apprenticed  to  a  weaver,  but  was  in¬ 
duced  to  join  a  set  of  young  thieves  who  frequented  the 
neighbourhood  where  he  dwelt:  for  nearly  two  years  he  was 
in  the  constant  commission  of  crime.  Being  naturally  clever, 
he  became  useful  to  his  accomplices.  The  first  time  he  was 
in  prison,  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  return  to  his  friends 
on  his  discharge,  but  was  persuaded  by  some  of  his  fellow- 
prisoners  to  join  a  party  of  thieves  whom  they  named  to 
him;  two  of  whom  waited  fior  him  at  the  prison  door  on  the 
day  of  his  discharge,  and  furnished  him  with  clothes,  and 
he  then  became  their  associate.  When  last  in  confinement, 
he  applied  for  assistance:  he  has  been  three  months  in  the 
Temporary  establishment,  and  is  now  learning  a  trade.  He 
conducts  himself  with  great  propriety. 


(1827.) 

A.  B.  aged  sixteen:  his  parents  are  dead.  He  had  been 
twice  in  prison;  once  for' stealing  food,  when  he  had  been 
nearly  twenty-four  hours  without  victuals.  After  passing 
six  months  in  the  Temporary  Refuge,  and  being  admitted 

r  ' 

into  the  permanent  establishment,  he  was  taught  shoe¬ 
making.  He  was  afterwards  apprenticed  to  a  master,  whom 
he  faithfully  served  until  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  his 
apprenticeship.  For  some  time  he  supported  himself  as  a 
journeyman;  but  failed  in  getting  employment,  owing  to  the 
deadness  of  trade.  He  then  endeavoured  to  earn  a  scanty 
subsistence  by  selling  brooms,  until  he  became  totally  dcs- 


titute,  when  he  appeared  before  the  Refuge  Committee,  and 
was  literally  covered  with  rags.  A  minute  inquiry  was 
made  into  his  moral  conduct,  which  proved  satisfactory. 
He  was  furnished  with  decent  clothing,  and  work  was  pro¬ 
cured  for  him,  and  he  is  now  in  a  comfortable  situation. 
As  a  proof  of  the  good  principles  which  guided  this  young 
man,  it  may  be  stated  that,  although  he  was. so  reduced  as 
to  have  neither  shoes  nor  hat,  he  strictly  abstained  from  the 
slightest  act  of  dishonesty. 


s 


Cases  from  New  Fork  Reports.  1 

E.  M.— -A  ged  15  years.  His  parents  are  now  living  in 
this  city,  and  with  whom 'he  has  always  lived.  He  used  to 
pick  chips  in  the  street,  and  the  first  thing  he  ever  stole  w^s 
chips  from  other  boys.  About  two  years  since,  he,  in  com¬ 
pany  with  an  older  boy  who  had  been  in  the  penitentiary, 
stole  from  a  man  in- the  street  who  was  intoxicated,  a  bun¬ 
dle  containing  many  articles;  he  was  taken  up,  tried  for 
highway  robbery,  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  six  months; 
when  his  time  was  out,  he  commenced  thieving  again.  He 
was  again  taken  up  and  put  in  Bridewell,  (where  he  has 
been  three  or  four  times,)  convicted  and  sentenced  to  the 
House  of  Refuge.  He 'escaped  in  a  , short  time,  and  was 
found  in  Bridewell,  where  he  had  been  committed  under  a 
feigned  name,  under  suspicion  of  shop-liftitrg.  Severe  reme¬ 
dies  and  punishments  were  applied  for  neaady  two  months. 
He  was  put  to  the  shoe-maker’s  bench.  Since  April,  his 
conduct  has  been  such  as  to  give  much  satisfaction.  He  is 
unremitted  in  attention  to  his  work,  and  evinces  much  am¬ 
bition.  In  short,  his  uniformly  good  conduct  since  the 
above  time  “  impresses  us  with  the  belief,”  says  the  superin¬ 
tendent,  “  that  the  steps  taken  for  his  preservation  will  prove 
successful;  in  him  we  anticipate  the  realization  of  our 
wishes.” 


C.  A. — Aged  between  15  and  16,  has  a  mother  in  this 
city,  with  whom  she  has  always  lived.  This  girl  was  brought 
up  to  no  other  employment  than  picking  chips  for  her  mo¬ 
ther,  which  led  her  to  live  in  the  streets  and  be  exposed  to 
every  species  of  crime.  She  was  taken  up  with  other  girls, 
for  stealing  a  watch.  She  made  two  several  attempts  to 
escape,  and  her  conduct  was  such  as  to  require  confinement 
and  punishment.  The  misconduct  of  this  girl,  we  think, 
may  with  justice  be  attributed  to  the  example  of  a  depraved 
mother  and  elder  sister,  who  are  now  in  the  penitentiary,  as 
well  as  to  an  imjpaired  mind,  occasioned  by  an  epileptic  af¬ 
fection  with  which  she  has  been  afflicted  since  a  child.  Our 
physicians  have  prescribed  for  her,  and  have  been  success¬ 
ful  in  suspending  her  fits:  since  July  she  has  not  had  a  re¬ 
turn  of  them.  From  which  time  she  has  behaved  much 
better.  The  improvement  of  her  mind  is  also  suffleient  to 
give  flattering  hopes  of  her  yet  becoming  a  respectable 
woman. 

!  - - -  "■ 

D.  B.  L. — Aged  fifteen  years,  born  in  New  York,  commit¬ 
ted  from  the  police  on  suspicion  of  having  stolen  a  shawl. 
He  was  brought  up  in  the  vicinity  of  Bancker-street,  and 
for  some  months  played  the  tambourine,  in  those  receptacles 
of  vice  and  misery,  the  dancing-houses  of  Corlaer’s  Hook. 
He  acknowledges  having  stolen  some  few  articles,  but  de¬ 
nies  stealing  the  article  for  which  he  was  sent  here.  From 
the  time  he  was  committed  until  his  discharge,  he  conduct¬ 
ed  in  an  entire  satisfactory  manner.  In  October,  he  was 
indented  to  a  respectable  gentleman  residing  about  sixty 
miles  north  of  this  city. 


C.  W. — Aged  fourteen  years,  born  in  New  York,  of  Irish 
parents,  who  now  keep  a  fruit  shop  in  this  city.  This  child 
became  a  victim  to  the  seductive  arts  of  a  villain  at  the  early 
age  of  eleven  years?  for  two  and  a  half  years  subsequently 


53 


continued  to  associate  with  lewd  and  abandoned  women,  and 
has  twice  been  in  Bridewellfor  being  found  in  such  company. 
She  has  also  been  guilty  of  stealing  many  articles. 

She  was  brought  here  in  July,  1826,  at  the  request  of  her 
father,  for  leaving  his  roof,  and  frequenting  houses  of  ill 
fame.  At  first,  her  conduct  was  such  as  to  give  little  hope 
of  reformation:  she  would  use  profane  and^vulgar  language, 
was  disobedient  and  disrespectful. 

She  was  soon  given  to  understand,  that  this  was  not  a 
place  in  which  she  could  indulge  in  improprieties  with  im¬ 
punity,  and  was  treated  as  her  conduct  deserved. 

After  a  short  time,  the  treatment  she  received  produced 
the  desired  effect,  and  she  became  directly  the  reverse  of 
what  she  before  was.  The  matron  now  thinks  her  the  best 
girl  in  the  house,  and  says  that  if  she  offends  in  the  most 
trivial  thing,  she  is  not  content  until  she  has  asked  and  ob¬ 
tained  forgiveness. 


V 

C.  D. — Aged  about  nine  years,  committed  in  April,  1825. 
This  little  girl  was  a  very  singular  case  of  youthful  female 
depravity.  She  had  been  in  Bridewell,  before  she  became 
an  inmate  of  the  Refuge,  for  stealing,  and  had  been  in  the 
practice  of  pilfering,  from  her  earliest  childhood.  After 
having  been  confined  for  one  month  in  the  Refuge,  she  was 
returned  to  her  parents,  by  order  of  the  acting  committee, 
in  order  to  remove  some  private  unhappiness,  between  her 
father  and  mother.  ^ 

Three  months  afterwards,  she  was  found  by  the  Superin¬ 
tendent  in  Bridewell,  where  she  had  been  put  for  stealing, 
and  returned  to  the  Refuge. — She  acknowledged  that  soon 
after  her  discharge,  she  ran  away  from  her  father’s  house, 
and  offered  her  services  to  a  woman  at  Powles  Hook;  she 
continued  with  her  three  weeks,  stole  five  dollars,  absconded, 
and  returned  to  the  city. 

She  enumerated  a  variety  of  articles  that  she  had  stolen, 
with  as  much  simplicity  and  apparent  innocence,  as  if  she 
was  unconscious  that  she  had  done  wrong. 


54 


After  her  return,  it  was  frequently’  necessary  to  punish 
her  for  falsehoods,  and  such  was  her  general  misconduct,  it 
was  almost  feared  that  she  was  incorrigibly  vicious.  She 
continued  in  this  course  for  many  months,  without  manifest¬ 
ing  any  evidence  of  a  reformation;  but  some  time  in  Sep¬ 
tember,  1826,  she  appeared  to  be  a  subject  of  religious  ex¬ 
citement,  and  from  this  period  be'Qame  a  new  girl;  instead 
of  an  untractable  and  almost  unmanageable  disposition,  she 
evinced  an  agreeable,  cheerful,  obedient  state  of  mind,  which 
endeared  her  to  all  who  saw  her. 


B.  W.  R. — Committed  from  the  police  in  November,  1826. 
His  father  was  a  counsellor  at  law,  and  unfortunate  in  his 
circumstances.  B.  was  sent  to  school  at  an  early  age,  and 
continued  two  or  three  years,  after  which,  he  accompanied 
his  uncle  on  a  voyage  round  Cape  Horn,  and  was  absent 
about  eighteen  months.  When  he  returned,  he  became  con¬ 
nected  with  some  vicious  boys,  and  commenced  the  prac¬ 
tice  of  stealing.  From  his  grandmother  he  stole  money,  in 
small  sums,  a  number  of  books,  handkerchiefs,  &c.  From 
the  yards  of  several  people,  residing  contiguous  to  his 
grandmother’s  house,  he  stole  frequently  chickens  and 
clothes.  He  was  finally  detected,  in  stealing  cakes  from  a 
store  in  the  Bowery,  and  sentenced  to  the  Refuge.  After 
conducting  himself  with  uniform  propriety,  for  half  a  year, 
he  was  indentured  to  a  gentleman  in  the  state  of  Connecticut. 

The  reformatory  influence  of  this  establishment  upon  his 
mind,  the  following  anecdote  may  serve  to  illustrate.  B.  on 
his  passage  in  the  steam  boat,  up  the  East  River,  found  a 
watch,  in  one  of  the  private  rooms  of  the  boat,  belonging 
to  a  passenger;  he  immediately  sought  the  captain,  and  de¬ 
livered  it  to  him,  and  was  solicitous  that  the  owner  might 
be  found.  The  gentleman,  to  whom  the  watch  belonged, 
struck  with  the  honesty  of  the  act,  was  led  to  inquire  his 
name  and  residence.  This  gave  rise  to  a  very  interesting 
dialogue,  in  which  B.  evinced  a  degree  of  exultation,  in 


having  been  an  inmate  of  the  Refuge,  and  in  realizing  the 
benevolent  motives  which  led  to  its  establishment. 


S.  C.  B. — Committed  from  the  police  office,  aged  four¬ 
teen,  was  born  in  Newtown,  Conn.  His  father  moved  to 
New  York,  and  died  before  his  memory;  his  mother  died 
about  a  year  ago,  and  left  him  friendless.  He  early  com¬ 
menced  a  career  of  stealing  and  depredation,  to  which  he 
was  led  by  the  company  of  older  boys,  and  his  brief  life 
exhibits  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  instances  of  juvenile 
depravity  that  has  come  under  the  notice  of  the  board.  His 
thefts,  as  admitted  by  himself,  are  almost  beyond  number. 
He  has  twice  served  out  his  sentence  in  the  penitentiary. 
He  was  much  encouraged  in  his  thefts  by  the  facilities  af¬ 
forded  him  in  selling  the  articles  he  stole  to  persons  who 
must  have  been  aware  of  the  manner  in  which  he  got  them. 
His  depredations  upon  entries  were  numerous.  The  circus 
and  theatre  also  presented  a  wide  field  for  his  dexterity  in 
picking  pockets. 

The  reformation  of  such  a  character,  was  a  bold  under¬ 
taking  by  the  institution,  but  as  he  was  young,  and  his  of¬ 
fences  had  been  the  result  of  bad  company,  his  case  was  not 
considered  hopeless.  He  found  means  to  escape  the  first 
week,  but  was  brought  back:  his  temper  was  obstinate,  and 
he  was  determined  upon  opposition.  Severe  remedies  and 
punishments  were  then  applied  to  bend  his  spirit,  and  the 
managers  have  reason  to  believe  with  success.  Since  April 
he  is  much  improved  in  temper,  and  has  evinced  a  disposi¬ 
tion  to  behave  well;  he  is  now  one  of  the  most  agreeable 
and  pleasant  boys  in  the  house,  and  is  apparently  quite  hap¬ 
py:  should  application  be  made  for  him  for  a  proper  place 
where  he  would  be  strictly  attended,  the  board  think  they 
could  bind  him  out  with  safety.  , 


J.  G. — Aged  between  16  and  17.  She  has  lived  in  several 
places,  but  in  none  to  any  advantage  to  her  principles  or 


56 


habits.  Her  last  place,  in  Bancker-street,  led  her  to  form 
evil  associates.  She  was  taken  up  by  the  watch,  being  in 
bad  company,  and  committed  to  this  house.  With  her  con¬ 
duct  since  in  the  house,  the  superintendent  has  had  better 
reason  to  be.  satisfied  than  with  that  of  any  other  of  our  fe¬ 
male  subjects,  notwithstanding  the  vicious  life  she  led  the 
last  year  before  she  came  into  this  establishment.  She  has 
many  good  principles.  After  being  in  the  house  a  few  weeks, 
she  became  willing  to  yield  to  restraints  and  attend  to  advice 
given  her.  She  has  a  good  disposition,  and  pleasant  man¬ 
ners.  She  was  indented  the  beginning  of  last  month. 


Extract  from  Governor  Clmton'^s  Message  to  the  New  York 

Legislature, 

Refuge  for  Juvenile  Delinquents. — The  best  penitentiary 
institution  which  has  ever  been  devised  by  the  wit,  and  esta¬ 
blished  by  the  beneficence  of  man,  is,  in  all  probability,  the 
House  of  Refuge  in  the  city  of  New  York,  for  the  reforma¬ 
tion  of  juvenile  delinquents.  It  takes  cognizance  of  vice  in 
its  embryo  state,  and  redeems  from  ruin  and  sends  forth  for 
usefulness,  those  depraved  and  unfortunate  youth,  who  are 
sometimes  in  a  derelict  state,  sometimes  without  subsist¬ 
ence,  and  at^  all  times  without  friends  to  guide  them  in  the 
paths  of  virtue.  The  tendency  of  this  noble  charity  is  pre¬ 
ventive  as  well  as  remedial,  and  during  the  short  period  of 
its  existence,  its  salutary  power  has  been  felt  and  acknow¬ 
ledged  in  the  haunts  of  vice  and  the  diminution  of  our 
criminal  proceedings.  I  cannot  recommend  its  further  en¬ 
couragement  in  language  too  emphatic,  and  I  do  believe  if 
this  asylum  were  extended  so  as  to  comprehend  juvenile 
delinquents  from  all  parts  of  the  state,  that  the  same  pre¬ 
serving,  reclaiming  and  reforming  effects  would  be  corre- 
spondcntly  experienced. 


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